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“La Palapa Rockola” September 20, 2003 In Mexico, when the blazing afternoon sun beats down on the beach, locals flock to palapas—palm-thatched shelters, where icy cervezas wash down spicy fish tacos. Two years ago, the seaside palapa came to the East Village when Barbara Sibley and Margaritte Malfy—artists who traveled extensively in Mexico— opened La Palapa in the East Village, a hacienda-style, urban shelter featuring tearfully good authentic Mexican home-cooking. Thankfully, the East Village is no longer the only neighborhood with a place to chow down on stellar, rustic Mexican fare of the lip-licking variety. The partners recently unveiled La Palapa Rockola, a West Village sibling designed to evoke the glory days of Mexico during the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Walls are lined with film stills of grand dames Rosa Carmina and Maria Felix, Latin music is stocked in the restaurant’s old-fashioned Rockola (jukebox), and plates are piled high with chile-rich, regional dishes like Gorditas de Masa con Tinga de Pollo—fat masa pockets stuffed with chicken in chipotle ($7.95), and Pato con Mole de Zarzamora ($17.95)—grilled muscovy duck breast in a wild raspberry and ancho chile mole.Did I mention the killer margaritas are served in tall ice-cream soda glasses? A nice touch. Cloning has never seemed more logical.
La Palapa Rockola, 359 Sixth Avenue (b/w Washington Place and West 4th Street), 212-243-6870.
Andrea Strong |
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