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 Ocotillo Cafe Is Yet Another Reason To Love This Arid Land By Rebecca Cook ANYWAY--WHY GO into the desert?" wrote the late Edward Abbey in a tongue-in-cheek attempt to dissuade prospective transplants from relocating to the Sonoran Desert. "Why the desert, when you could be strolling along the golden beaches of California? Camping by a stream of pure Rocky Mountain spring water in colorful Colorado? Loafing through a laurel slick in the misty hills of North Carolina? Or getting your head mashed in the greasy alley behind the Elysium Bar and Grill in Hoboken, New Jersey? Why the desert, given a world of such splendor and variety?"
As if in answer to Abbey's spurious query, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum highlights and pays homage to the vast array of flora and fauna native to this region. Now you can add one more justification for going back for a visit: the Ocotillo Café, the museum's very own fine-dining experience. Even though this is the restaurant's third year of operation, don't be surprised if you haven't heard about it before. Open only selectively throughout the year, the Ocotillo Café has become one of Tucson's best-kept secrets. But, like Abbey's futile attempt to keep the charms of the desert under wraps, the word has rapidly spread of an evening of sensational scenery and outstanding cuisine within the museum walls on summer Saturday nights, when the museum is open for full viewing as well as sumptuous dining. (An admission fee is required for either option.)
A native of Tucson, Fahey learned many of the tricks of his trade while working at the Sheraton El Conquistador under the tutelage of Alan Zeman, whom Fahey respectfully calls the "grandfather of Southwestern cuisine." Fahey was obviously an apt pupil, and the menu at the Ocotillo Café percolates with the tastes, sights and aromas of this region--so much so that Fahey can't help but describe a few dishes with distinctly desert-like metaphors. "The dinner salad always includes julienned chayote squash because it tastes like the monsoons," he says. "Don't you think so?" By maintaining close contact with produce companies, Fahey secures the freshest ingredients for his menu. The payoff for such attention to detail is obvious with each bite, especially when nibbling one of the many fresh fruit, vegetable and herb salsas. The zesty combination of flavors in a relish of, for example, kalamata olives, roasted onions, papaya and cucumber comes alive in what Fahey calls a "taste explosion." A commitment to the most seasonal of ingredients in the offerings at Ocotillo Café means that menu options aren't set in stone; but returning guests will find much that's familiar on the small menu. After a brief and lovely walk around the museum, we settle in one rain-cleansed evening with a few of the Ocotillo's signature cocktails: a Sonoran sunset--made with fresh watermelon juice, tequila and lime--and a howling coyote, consisting of gin, Courvoisier, Cointreau and fresh orange, pineapple and lime juices. Though a little on the sweet side, these lively concoctions are very refreshing. A Rocky Point cocktail ($5.95) of Guaymas shrimp in a tomato, avocado, onion and lime broth, topped with a dollop of chunky guacamole, is exquisite--the shrimp large and fresh, the avocado divinely ripe and the broth deliciously and painlessly piquant. Our entree choices included the chuleta en molcajete ($16.50), chile-cured sirloin steak, roasted garlic chevre polenta and grilled machengo cheese, napolitos, scallions and red and yellow tomatoes--all finished in a delicate red chile glacé; and the vejetales con fideo ($14), a heavenly fusion of chile-imbued orzo, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, napolitos, roasted peppers, fresh corn and eggplant in a chipotle chile cream sauce.Exquisite. The sirloin is a grilled marvel: crisply charred and well seasoned on the outside and rare, moist and tender on the inside. The pasta dish is smooth and savory, with vegetables expertly cooked to an ideal state of doneness; and portions are impressively generous. Dessert is undeniably the grand finale at the Ocotillo Café. Even here, a rich regional influence is obvious. A dark, bittersweet Ibarra chocolate tart, consisting of Mexican chocolate pastry filled with espresso ganache and topped with a sun-dried cherry, tangerine and poached apple compote, lusciously concludes the meal. The blue corn and banana tacos--blue corn crepes filled with caramelized bananas and topped with Kahlua-laced whipped cream and fresh berries--offer a lighter and equally magnificent alternative. The waitstaff is efficient and knowledgeable, and the surroundings, featuring an elegant indoor-outdoor design by architect Les Wallach, are striking. The molten metal sculpture of the universe on the far wall is stunning.
Why the desert, indeed. Try adding the extraordinary cuisine
at the Ocotillo Café to your growing list of ethereal pleasures.
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But those of us who choose to live here know why only too well.
The desert's stark and severe beauty, and its deceptive complexity,
beguile us like no other landscape.
Keaton's Restaurant, which manages the food service for the museum,
has wisely put culinary wunderkind Patrick Fahey at the helm of
the Ocotillo Café, and a more perfect match between restaurant
and chef would be hard to imagine.
