Fuego Cocina douses authenticity

Fuego Cocina y Tequileria recently opened its doors in Clarendon promising diners an experience that doesn’t quite live up to its fiery name. The Mexican restaurant and tequila bar is the newest business from the owners of Passion Food Hospitality, a group of chefs with American, Latino, and seafood restaurants in the DMV area. With its stiflingly opulent atmosphere, the restaurant is a far cry from the local, small family owned taquerias that it ought to resemble.

It sits a few blocks from the Metro station, half-full with young couples and groups of friends enjoying a meal and a drink.  Boasting a menu of flavorful, albeit not quite auténtico, Mexican dishes and a wide selection of cocktails and tequilas, this upscale restaurant is neither your neighborhood Chipotle, nor a genuine Mexican restaurant of any stripe.

The meal starts with a basket of tortilla chips and two types of “sauces” that masquerade as salsa, with small $10 guacamole bowls available to order. Like bread at an Italian restaurant, these chips are tasty, but the “salsas” are of nebulous origin, certainly not made from peppers, and have a crisp, but undefinable taste. Fuego Cocina offers an array of botanas, or appetizers for the table, including overpriced crabmeat quesadillas, steamed mussels, and vegetable empanadas and other dishes you might expect to find in a steakhouse.

The selection of soups and salads is limited, but Fuego Cocina delivers good options: the house salad is crisp and fresh, while the Sopa Azteca combines crispy tortilla chips and shredded chicken (though they make you assemble the soup yourself, for some reason; for $7, I usually expect the chef to make my food for me). It was also irritating to have the waiter constantly warn you that the food “is spicy,” as if it either did not say so on the menu already, or as if you were a small child that had to be chided that the stove was hot. Thanks for the newsflash: habanero peppers are spicy.

The mini tacos, which cost an outrageous $7 for a pair, are delicious; fillings range from familiar pork, beef, and chicken to more adventurous roasted goat and beef tongue. Each plate comes with three sauces, the spiciest being the habanero (which the waiter will again remind you, is made of peppers, and therefore is hot). Just in case anyone was unaware, Fuego Cocina takes spice seriously. The Camarones is a cluster of grilled shrimp nestled in a bed of jicama slaw, while the Suadero balances tender beef brisket with jalapeno and onions. Cradled in warm, soft tortillas, these tacos are satisfying when paired with one of the other appetizers or shared with botanas.

They’re also less expensive alternatives to Fuego Cocina’s entrees, which run between $15 and $24. An extra $3 buys one of various rice, bean, or vegetable side dishes that ought to be included automatically in a Mexican meal. However, while these tacos are muy delicioso, they’re anything but Mexican. They are far too decadent, elegant, and mildly flavored to be anything resembling the boisterous and flavorful cuisine of their namesake.

In that vein, I’m not sure that any restaurant that doesn’t offer tamales, burritos, or enchiladas can be rightfully called a Mexican restaurant. This is what I would imagine Wolfgang Puck would come up with if he started a taqueria: elegant and refined, with subtle but savory flavors.

What this establishment lacks is any sort of connection with the loud, busy, friendly taco shacks that dot the streets of Southern California. The salsas aren’t spicy, the items are too expensive, and the food does not come close to resembling a hearty, simple meal. If authentic Mexican food is what you’re looking for, this glorified imitation is hardly the desired destination.