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The Arcadia News features restaurant reviews each month.
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Asi Es La Vida
3602 N. 24th Street ~ 602.952.1255

Mole poblano is a Mexican dish made on special occasions. I don’t know where its history begins so I will revert to the same tactic I grew fond of when I taught history at a small charter school in Paradise Valley. I will make the facts up using a spicy blend of completely unrelated incidents, hearsay and frightening myths.

Santa Ana, a famous Mexican general who fought Americans, lost his leg either to war or disease and had it amputated. A shrine was built and the leg was entombed as a memorial to all Mexicans. Some years later during the Mexican American War a group of irate Texans raided Santa Ana’s camp, stole his replacement peg leg and paraded it through the States as a trophy.

Eventually, Santa Ana fell from favor in Mexico and his entombed leg was besieged by a mob which hauled the limb from its quarters and marched it through town where it bared witness, like a dumb mannequin, to a festival lasting three days which drank the city dry and devoid of all virgins except for a group of nuns who took up a defensive position in Puebla and, for lack of provisions, invented their famous Mole poblano.

The first time I ever had Mole poblano was in a restaurant in Evanston, Illinois called Lupita’s. For years I have searched for a comparable sauce, but never had any luck. Eventually I learned how to make it myself and have blissfully lived the lie that mine is just as good. Then, without warning, Asi Es La Vida opened its doors and began serving the real stuff. There I was at dinner with my wife and friends, humiliated by the evidence before all of us. My Mole poblano, as good as it is, is unqualified to carry the shoes of the Mole which Asi Es La Vida turns out nightly.

Arturo Rodriguez, the chef responsible for the complex sauces and slow roasted meats making his restaurant famous, is broadly talented and may be one of the city’s best. The dinner menu features eight items all deserving praise. On the light side is the Pescado a la Veracruzana ($18.95), a delicate filet of fish baked in garlic, tomato, onion, capers and a sauce of green olives and white wine. There is an incredible play of flavors set up here between the sharp salty olives and the sweet tomatoes and wine. Di que si Arturo!

The Filet “Asi Es La Vida” ($24.95), a Filet Mignon topped with Poblano Peppers, Onion, Garlic and Melted House Cheese, is another good pick, (Atkins friendly) and reminds me of a similar plate at the famous Javier’s in Dallas. The stews though, one of which is the Mole, are what Asi Es La Vida uses to define itself in a city of great restaurants. The Cochinita Pibil ($15.95), a slow-roasted pork with an orange-based sauce and sweet red onions, is another favorite of mine. Savory isn’t descriptive enough to describe it so how about sweet, sour and rich all at once or “a la vez” as the expression goes.

Arturo Rodriguez is creating the romantic notions of Garcia Marquez and Octavio Paz, Monday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Dios Mio! There are even lunch specials!