If one only rated a restaurant by its architecture, tzintzuntzan would receive five stars before a single bite entered one’s mouth. Evoking the spicy Mexican minimalism of Luis Barragán, Juan Miró of Miró Rivera Architects has designed one of the most elegant and calming eating spaces in the city. Although introverted from the street, walls of windows and an enormous, enclosed patio provide ample daylight for eating and imbibing.
Owned and operated by the good folks at Fonda San Miguel next door, tzintzuntzan (pronounced zin-zoon-zan) means ‘place of the hummingbirds’ in an old dialect of Mexico. The restaurant focuses on breakfast, brunch, bebidos, and bread (or, better said [but without the alliteration], Mexican pastries). The menu offers appetizers, breakfast, lunch, pan dulces, and an array of hot and cold beverages. When ordering, it’s a good idea to have a Plan B and perhaps a Plan C. On our first trip, it took several visits from waitstaff (over the span of half an hour) before I ordered something that was still available. On a second visit, it took two trips.
We had a horchata ($7) and a Café de Olla ($5). The horchata was good, but the Olla, a traditional Mexican coffee brewed with cinnamon and piloncillo, was spectacular. For an appetizer, we tried the Tacos ‘El Patito’ (three corn flautas filled with queso asadero and potato, cold tomato salsa, herb slaw, and chipotle meco vinaigrette; $16). It was good, but oddly bland. For mains, I (finally) ordered the Huevos con Machaca (scrambled eggs a la Mexicana, machaca, salsa tatemada, black bean puree, tortillas; $20) and The Bride, missing Las Manitas, ordered the Huevos Motuleños (lightly fried corn tortillas, black bean puree, ranchera salsa, sunny eggs, peas, ham, plantain, and quesillo; $20). Both dishes were beautiful and good (with housemade tortillas!). On a second trip, we tried the Tacos de Carnitas (heirloom corn tortilla, cheese crust, crema, Mexicana, pickled jalapeños, and chispas salsa; $24), which were also good.
But is good good enough for a place like tzintzuntzan? Perhaps it’s the tyranny of multiple expectations (the promise of the architecture, the shadow of Fonda San Miguel, the long lists of ingredients, the Andrew Jacksons needed to close out, the unrequited Plan As), but I hoped for more. I wanted to be zin-zoon-zanned! Regardless, tzintzuntzan is worth a visit to check out the scene and, hopefully, the evolution of the menu.
tzintzuntzan, 2302 West North Loop, http://www.tzintzuntzan.com
