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“Los Dados”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Latin/Mexican	MeatPacking	Moderate	Good

MY DINNER AT LOS DADOS
Every semester, as some of you know, I teach an introduction to food writing class at mediabistro, an eight-week course where we cover the ins and outs of feature food writing, restaurant reviewing, and the (sometimes frustrating) dance between writer and editor. I like to celebrate the end of our eight weeks together with dinner, usually at a new place, with a chef whose food I like, that will be able to seat about 10-12 of us. Last week we decided to try Los Dados, the new Mexican restaurant from chef Sue Torres (Sueños) and partners Will Regan and David Rabin (Lotus, Double Seven).

Los Dados is a departure from the Sueños formula is several ways. First, it’s in the Meatpacking, not Chelsea, which necessitates a certain amount of scene. This is accomplished by atmospheric details like gothic candelabras, exposed brick walls, recessed sills displaying Mexican shrines to saints, roomy banquettes tucked into wall cubbies and alcoves, and lean communal tables. While Sueños feels festive and cheery, like lunchtime in a sunny Veracruz town, Los Dados feels sexy and perfectly suited for night, like a long (possibly drunken) dinner in the heartland of Mexico.

 

Aside from the décor and vibe, the menu at Los Dados is also a departure from Sue’s more modern and complex cooking at Sueños. At Los Dados, she’s bowing her head to regional home-cooking, to simpler dishes cooked by families in kitchens across Mexico—tacos ($14-$18), enchiladas ($13-$15), panuchos ($9), and more affordable, pared-down main courses like hanger steak glazed with tamarind over nopales and pasilla chile ($20), grilled salmon with a pumpkin seed pipian and fresh corn tamal ($18), and tilapia Veracruz with white bean puree and corn tortillas ($18). There’s a bare-bones humbleness to the food that perhaps some critics have seen as a decline in Torres’ skill. I see it as an attempt to do something different, and as a conscious departure from her food at Sueños. It’s not the same, but there’s still plenty to enjoy at Los Dados.

When I arrived, about half of my students were already seated, with bowls of guacamole and pitchers of sangria and house margaritas already littering the table. I know how to teach my kids, right? One of my st ... [more, click below]

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Posted: November 12, 2007

Other restaurants in MeatPacking :
+ Paradou   + Florent   + One   + Bivio   + Spice Market   + Ono   + 5 Ninth   + Fatty Crab   + Del Posto   + Morimoto   + Los Dados   + 5 Ninth   + Merkato 55   + Scarpetta   + The John Dory   + The Standard Grill   + Bill's Bar & Burger   

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