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“Mojo”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Latin/Mexican	Lower East Side	Moderate	Great

 

When Lower East Side hot spot Wyanoka closed in January, fans of chef Chris Santos were bereft. Support groups formed. Lucky for us, he resurfaced at Mexican Sandwich Company in Park Slope, and has recently opened Mojo, owned by Suba partners Phillip Morgan and Yann de Rochefort. This hip, cozy bistro space, with warm exposed brick walls, and a slick chrome bar equipped with cherry-red, retro swivel bar stools, is already packed with stylish East Village lifers and feels like it has been in the ‘hood for years.

The earthy menu has Mexican and Latin accents and dishes snap taste buds to attention with glee. (Yes, glee is an emotion that comes up over and in the course of dinner.) Mac-n-cheese is the best I’ve had ($6). Creamy and cheesy, it is topped with a rustic bread-crumb crust. Fat, succulent grilled shrimp arrive topped in a fiery rain of chipotle, corn and black beans, tender and meaty short-rib tacos are served in a TV-dinner style tray with compartments stocked with the essentials—fresh guac, bright salsa, and diced green chiles. The crisp quesadilla comes in divine triple decker form, filled with grilled applewood-smoked bacon and blue cheese ($9), and pulled duck empanadas are just as spicy and tasty—puffy golden pastries stuffed with a shredded sweet tangle of duck ($8). For dessert, the sundae is a kid-in-a-candy story sort of indulgence—chunks of roasted grilled bananas, ribbons of smooth creamy peanut butter, and broken bits of Kit Kat, folded into thick, rich, scoops of dark chocolate ice cream ($7). It had one woman telling the chef she was eating the sundae with one hand and playing with herself with the other. Indeed, Mojo is an all around, “I’ll have what she’s having” experience.

 

Mojo, 309 East 5th Street, b/w 1st and 2nd Avenues, 212-539-1515

 

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Posted: October 10, 2003

Other restaurants in Lower East Side :
+ Mojo   + WD-50   + Schiller's Liquor Bar   + Azul Bistro   + Barrio Chino   + 71 Clinton Fresh Food-- Closed   + Little Giant   + Kuma Inn   + Falai   + The Stanton Social   + The Tides   + Thor   + The Orchard   + El Bocadito-- CLOSED   + Bondi Road   + Rayuela   + Suba   + Bun (boone)   + Sorella   + The Fat Hippo   + Pulino's   

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