By George Mahe
Photograph by Katherine Bish
Most people would agree that the most popular ethnic food, especially with children, is Mexican. So how did this happen: In the city of Kirkwood, that prosperous land where family is king, there is not one Mexican restaurant. Nada one. (A Google search for Mexican restaurants in 63122 returned this: two Taco Bells and a Chili’s.) ¿Hola? It took a first-timer to notice the gap. Proudly clutching a notebook bulging with sketches, family recipes and dog-eared pages of thoughts, family recipes and observations, Robert Trevino is ready to apply the right ideas to the right idea. Amigo’s Cantina (which will be located at 120 W. Jefferson) will open in mid-March.
So is it Treviño or Trevino, like the golfer? Trevino … it worked just fine for Lee.
No Mexican in Kirkwood. I still can’t believe it. I wasn’t in the position to make it happen until recently… And I was lucky no one beat me to it. I’ll soon have competition, but fortunately their market and product is different than mine.
So did all those sketches in your notebook become reality? I wanted Amigo’s to feel and look like the shops in a small Mexican town: warm colors, little tin roofs, wooden shingles. The rustic bar top materialized from a sketch I drew. I drew the perfect, traditional cobalt margarita glass … now I have to find it.
There are many interpretations of Mexican cuisine. What’s yours? I call it traditional, almost peasant-style food. The recipes are passed down…sauces cooked all day, meats marinated or rubbed, but presented with a tweak or two.
Will there be lots of choices? Yes and no. We’ll only have 10 entrées, but a variety of sides. You won’t see a Combination # 33 at Amigo’s…that drives me crazy. Even the garnishes are different: we take jalapeño peppers, oil them, roll them in kosher salt and blister-roast them.
I like it. So this is not a beans-and-rice place. Yes and no again. Those are traditional must-haves, but things like Mexican-spiced vegetables, potatoes and peppers, a cup of soup, are not. Call it traditional food that’s not served in the traditional Mexican way.
How about the chips and salsa? Any surprises there? The chips are fried daily from thin, fresh tortillas, then spiced up just a bit. And in my hot salsa you will see a spoon with no spoon bowl.
Clever. Any surprises for the kids? Una hamburguesa, perhaps? No, but there’s a hot dog that’s fried right along with the tortilla. And I know the “puffed” taco will be big.
Our cover story this month is about American comfort food. What qualifies as Mexican comfort food? The food I’m serving is all comfort food. We’ll have tortas, a sandwich that’s relatively unknown here. For my carnitas, pork shoulder is boiled, then rubbed, then slow roasted, losing the fat and concentrating the flavors ... that’s surely comfort food.
Sounds like a Mexican pot roast—definitely comfort food. Now, many people judge a place by the chiles rellenos. Mine will have chicken, raisins, walnuts, and a goat cheese sauce.
If that’s peasant food, I’ll take a handout. There has to be a few surprises. The specials will be my chefs’ favorites, and the menu will build from there.
What will be the big sellers? What are your favorites? The carnitas, the fajitas and the quesadillas will sell well, especially with the tweaks I give them. I prefer my dry-rubbed baby-back ribs and my Chile Colorado … chile the way it was originally made.
There are those who say you’re only as good as your margaritas. Your recipe? Lime juice and sugar—no sour mix—tart and strong, the way they should be. Plus, you’ll see traditional Mexican cocktails, like the spicy-cold Michelada, a legend in Mexico, and the Paloma, which is tequila with lime juice and grapefruit soda…and tequila served completo.
You’ve got my undivided attention. Two ounces of tequila is served with two ounces of sangrita, made from tomato and fresh fruit juice. You sip one, then the other. Historically, sangrita was used to chase the bite out of a homemade tequila, but we will serve it with every tequila.
What beer best represents Mexico? That’ll start some arguments. To most Americans it’s Corona, but I hope to convince all of them that Sol is crisper and fresher.
I hear you make a soup that would humble the Soup Nazi. It’s called Jalapeño Cheeseburger and Bacon, a cream-based soup made with pepperjack cheese…very spicy but you can’t stop eating it. I make a broth-based chicken and lime soup as well.
This is your first restaurant—any history of this illness in your family? I’ve managed restaurants, cooked in them, my family owns them. I was just tired of knowing the answer and not having a say. The guy that digs the ditch knows the right pick to use.
No one tried to talk you out of it? Just the opposite. For two years I ran the fajita stand at the Farmer’s Market and was told I had to open my own place. To those people, my new address is 120 West Jefferson.
