Archive for December 28th, 2011

It’s rare, very rare, that a restaurant can change my whole understanding about a class of food.  Fonda is one of those rare restaurants.  Fonda has made me believe that Mexican food can be sophisticated.  I’ve always loved Mexican food; both the massive Americanized platters of corn tortillas flooded with sauce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole and the more authentic corn tortillas or rice and bean dishes.  But I’ve never thought of Mexican food as fancy or high end.  Both of the usual varieties are satisfying but can hardly be called elegant.  Even the nicer Mexican spots seem to put out food that still approximates Don Pablo’s, just with better ambiance and a long tequila list.  So my elevation of Fonda deservers a thorough justification.

However, a thorough justification is going to have to wait. I want to return a few more times before making my full report.  For now I’ll keep it short.  I’ve dined at Fonda a few times and sampled their happy hour menu and, while I did have one major service failure here, the food has always impressed.  Good enough that I don’t feel cheated for paying $16 for the enchiladas.

It’s now officially a new year’s resolution to get back to Fonda a few more times and pound out a proper post.