As befits its name, En Fuego was a restaurant that burned brightly during its relatively short first life.
The restaurant, a concept developed by In the Raw founder Greg Hughes, served upscale Baja Mexican-inspired dishes in a lavishly outfitted Brookside location from 2002 to 2005. The menu ranged from such offerings as grilled sea bass, lobster tacos and smoked salmon quesadillas, along with a wide range of tequila-based cocktails.
Hughes chose to close the restaurant to pursue other concepts, such as Ford's Filling Station, which were equally ambitious, but didn't attract the same sort of attention and loyalty as En Fuego.
As Hughes told the Tulsa World in 2012, when he was working to open En Fuego near 61st Street and Sheridan Road, "I always regretted closing En Fuego in Brookside. I didn't stick with it quite long enough," adding that people often asked him if he was planning to reignite En Fuego.
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Some 20 years after it originally opened, En Fuego has returned — albeit in a much different form.
It occupies the east end of the Dock, the large structure on the north side of Guthrie Green, which has been the site of a number of food-related ventures over the years, all of which were projects from respected local chefs and restaurateurs.
A good deal of thought has gone into creating the new En Fuego, especially when it comes to making the best use of the relatively small indoor and much more expansive outdoor space of the restaurant.
Sliding glass panels can shut off an extremely cozy area, which houses the bar, which is ringed with stools, and about four tables, done in blonde wood. Outside this perimeter and down toward the street are dozens of seating options, from high-top tables to benches to geodesic dome structures that can accommodate up to about eight guests.
Most of these outdoor space are set in close proximity to patio heaters, and Mexican-style blankets are draped over some of the chairs. Denise, one of the servers, said of these devices, "We fired those up a few nights ago, and they can really put out the heat."
My first visit to En Fuego was on what may be the last truly clement day of the year, so the efficiency of the heaters was not a concern. The glass panels were opened, and one could enjoy a view of the expanse of Guthrie Green, with the appraising eye of Bob Dylan peering at one through a gap in the trees.
We've heard chef Cody Stell, who has worked at In the Raw and the original En Fuego, describe this incarnation of the restaurant as "a nice, high-end taco stand," so we started with two of the four specialty tacos on the menu: the Diablo Shrimp ($6) and the Masa Tempura Fish ($6).
Both were served in flour tortillas that tasted freshly made and were toasted so they had a bit of crisp to them. About half a dozen shrimp were lightly battered, then tossed in a diablo sauce that was more tangy than devilishly spicy. A layer of good, creamy guacamole, along with lettuce, pico and a bit of cotija cheese, brought all the flavors into balance.
The batter on the fish was more substantial, but not overwhelming, and the crunchy slaw and pickled onions added additional crunch as well as some piquant flavors.
We also sampled the queso frio ($6 small, $12 large), which might best be described as south of the border twist on that Southern staple, pimento cheese. The blend of jalapeño and chipotle peppers gave it just the right amount of heat.
This was all washed down with a Blueberry Lemon No-Jito ($8), one of the quintet of mocktails on the En Fuego menu. Lemon was the dominant flavor, so that the bits of muddled blueberry would come as the occasional, but refreshing, surprise.
Our second visit was on a less temperate day, but we chose a time when we were able to secure one of the indoor tables.
We started with the Bob Marley Dip ($12), one of the favorite items from the original En Fuego menu (another is the Inverted Taco Salad). This is a layered dip, mostly refried beans, covering a central scoop of ground beef, topped with pico de gallo, an avocado cilantro crema and queso blanco. It was fine, but my companion and I both thought the tortilla chips that are brought to the table when we sat down were put to much better use scooping the house salsa, which had a lovely roasted tomato flavor and chunky texture.
My companion ordered the Baja Chopped Salad ($10), a carefully arranged array of tomato, cucumber, avocado, pickled onion, chopped hard-boiled egg, corn, cilantro and both chihuahua and cotija cheese. A choice of protein — taco meat, carnitas, chorizo, chicken, shrimp or steak — can be added for an additional cost.
She, however, preferred it the way it was, especially when topped with the truffle queso fresco dressing, a thick, almost paste-like condiment that, once it was all mixed in, elevated every bite. "It's one of those salads," she said, "that just gets better the closer you get to the bottom of the bowl."
I chose the Baja Burger ($15), which centers around a patty made of ground beef and chorizo sausage, topped with onion, tomato, slaw and a hefty dollop of that queso frio. It made for a juicy, messy burger that was full of unusual flavors and a good amount of heat. It was accompanied with fries that one could dip in either ketchup or a malt vinegar crema.
Other choices include traditional street tacos, big burritos and quesadillas with a choice of protein; appetizers such as a cocktail de camarones, tuna poke nachos, and wings dressed in an elote sauce.
The drinks menu included more than 30 types of tequila, ranging in price from $7.50 to $70 a serving (that last figure is for the 11-year Fuentaseca tequila), as well as a dozen margarita preparations, ranging from the basic recipe to such evocatively named libations as the Slugarita and the St. Germainarita.
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December 13, 2023 at 08:55PM
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En Fuego fires up some tasty Baja-style foods | Review - Tulsa World
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