Thanks to legions of fans devoted to the updated Mexican cuisine of St. Petersburg's Red Mesa Restaurant, there's been a lot of anticipation heaped upon Red Mesa Cantina. Some of that has to do with the space, previously occupied by the on-again, off-again DeSanto Latin American Bistro. It's beautiful, centrally located in the heart of downtown St. Pete and features an amazing outdoor dining area. Combine that with the Cantina's focus on pan-Latin fusion cuisine, priced affordably and available late into the night, and you should have a recipe for success even in these depressing economic times.
And if you like the food at Red Mesa, you'll likely find much to like at the Cantina. The same culinary philosophy survives in the kitchen there, shown in dishes that tweak classics with modern ingredients and sensibilities. Problem is, a formula that's created legions of fans at one restaurant doesn't always translate well into a different space. At Red Mesa Cantina, flavor struggles to surface under the weight of those modern sensibilities.
Take tacos, an absurdly simple dish. Deceptively simple — remove a key component and you're flirting with disaster. The Cantina offers almost a dozen varieties ranging from marinated tofu to steak fajita, but most lack the ingredients to give this handheld nosh impact. That steak ($4) is crusty and luscious, but there's no acid or spice to liven up the flavor. Fried shrimp ($3.75) has some herbaceous punch, but much of that is hidden with a heavy sauce. Chicken pibil ($3) is dry and overcooked, with nothing else to provide contrast. All are bland, with the fresh tortillas the only saving grace.
Better are some of the many small plates, especially the near perfect bar food called bombas ($7). These deep-fried croquettes are stuffed with cheese, chorizo and shrimp, the outsides a glorious golden brown, the inside a fantastic combination of sweet shellfish, smoky sausage and gooey fat. Mofongo ($6) — traditionally a rustic mash of green plantains or yucca with fried pork skin — is lighter than most, with a big hit of tart to accent the crunchy bits of pig fat and starch.
The entrees, although better by far than the taco course, are the real problem at Red Mesa Cantina. Look at the plate and you'll see sauces speckled with herb or meat, a garden of vegetables tinged with caramelized sugars from a hot sauté and meat or fish that looks gorgeous. A lot of potential but, almost inevitably, the flavor hits your palate with a muted thump.
The Cantina's skirt steak ($17) is a thin slice of salty crust and beefy meat, drizzled with a rich sauce of creamy cheese supposedly punctuated with bits of jalapeno. But never do the jalapenos' heat or green vegetal bite manage to cut through the fat. Tofu ($12) marinated in a habanero sauce sounds promising — nothing like the biting heat of that particular chile to give some character to featureless soy meat — but in practice it succumbs to a too-subtle hand with both spice and seasoning.
As if to add some counterpoint, a basic Caribbean shrimp curry ($14) fortified with coconut milk has a distinct blast of spicy heat. Although there's not much else going on in the dish, that heat makes it one of the best items on the menu. But one taste will have you wishing for more of that in the other stuff you order.
In a complete turnaround compared to most restaurants, desserts at the Cantina are more interesting than the rest of the food, especially a deceptively named brownie ($6). The slices of dark brown cake straddle that elusive line of sweet and savory, with the deep flavor of Mexican chocolate. Alongside is homemade gelato infused with just enough dried chile powder to surprise and cut through the fat.
The Cantina also offers a wide variety of Latin-inspired cocktails, from fruity caipirinhas to infused margaritas. If you like your drinks straightforward and sweet, you'll like most of them. I found myself wishing with each sip for some of the citrus and herb punch that I never found in the food.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2009.