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The Arcadia News features restaurant reviews each month.
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Sea Saw
7133 E. Stetson Drive ~ 480.481.9463

Barrio Cafe
2814 N. 16th Street ~ 602.636.0240

When I was in college I was asked to write an endless number of papers using a format so ridiculous it could only belong to academia; compare and contrast. I would like to sum up 2002 with a brief comparison contrast essay of two new area restaurants which opened within the year and are now at the top of my list for a number of reasons. Both of these restaurants have something very important in common. They both do what they do uniquely and they present their ideas with absolute confidence.

Barrio Café is set within one of my favorite eclectic neighborhoods in what may have originally been a retail front but is now a contemporary redesign of what once was and it challenges us with the idea of paying more attention to our older neighborhoods. The cuisine is Modern Mexican and offers a contemporary take on southern Mexico, Mexico City, the Yucatan, you know, the food that Arizona Mexican restaurants insist is bad voodoo, majica malisimo, cosa’s encantados and so forth. The fact is that Arizona Mexican food is what it is: Arizona Mexican food. Sorry folks, there are no Macayo’s or Ajo Al’s south of the border unless they are upholding the faćade for the tourists.

The fact is that Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz, and Vicente Fox would probably treat Arizona Mexican food as something ethnic and foreign. In fact the only thing in common would be the tequila shooters.

The Tamal de la Huasteca ($7) is an example of Barrio’s eccentric side. It’s a banana leaf wrapped tamale with chicken and can be made with your choice of red or black molé. I went with black and it was outstanding. The Tacos de Cochinita Pibil ($9) was savory and complex with lots of flavors meeting the palette. It was served in a Mayan Achiote marinade, a smoky Yucatan Salsa, and Queso Fresco.

See Saw has its own way of separating itself from the pack. For the most part, what we have come to expect in Phoenix from Japanese cuisine is sushi and sashimi. What’s worse, we come to expect in advance exactly how those items are prepared for us. If I order a tuna roll at Zen 32 and a tuna roll at Kona Grill, I can plan on basically the same thing. See Saw breaks our expectations and uses sushi and sashimi craftsmanship to design new things for our taste buds, as well as our visual palette. Chef Nobu is leaving behind the basic, expected utility of food and creating a hybrid of food and art. The result is plates of highly crafted, visually stimulating, extremely tasty dishes, which make the experience of See Saw something more than just a restaurant. On top of this, Nobu has leveraged the wine selection of Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz into a list of unlimited variables.

Seared Tuna Tatake in a puree of reduced Pinot Noir and roasted beets – this dish had such amazing color it reminded me of Rothko’s Painting Red on Maroon, and if Chef Nobu had my flair for business he would have auctioned it to the highest bidder instead of setting the menu price at $12. Some of the other fare: Cool Duck; pan-seared duck breast, served chilled with a soy-Zinfandel reduction. I loved it. I also loved the white fish carpaccio with sesame seeds, yuzu juice and roasted garlic oil. ($12).

One last comparison: Both See Saw and Barrio Café are restaurants which are about the chefs which cook in them. Sylvia Salgado has a broad culinary background and a life of travels in Latin America to form the base of her talent. Chef Nobu has been the favorite topic of culinary writers for a few years now. But this is the first time either Chef has stepped under the spotlight with such a venture.