Elote

[artvandelay]

Was up in Sedona this past weekend and as always we hit Elote for dinner. And as always everything was spot on. Expecting a long wait (we were told 45 mins to an hour) we got drinks from the bar. I got what appeared to be a margarita tree--a flight of margaritas served in carrier that looked like a tree of sorts. Hard to describe but the drinks were great. Amazingly, we were called for dinner after about five minutes at the community table. Perhaps no one else wanted to sit there. I started with the half cream of tomato half cream of corn (which I think is just their signature elote dish pureed) soup topped with a green chile corn fritter. The soup was amazing and the combination really worked well. Talked to the chef briefly and he said he grew up eating the tomato soup but never thought to combine with the corn. The combination worked really well. Ms. Vandelay got her standard, the elote corn. They thoughtfully offer a vegetarian version w/o chicken stock.

For the main I got the braised buffalo short ribs in a mole sauce and the s/o got the chile rellenos. The ribs were fork tender and they were topped with micro greens and pickled red onions, which all played well together. The mole was good but I am used to bigger flavors from a mole (tacos attoyac comes to mind). The flavors were all here just more muted. I didn't try the rellenos, but the s/o really enjoyed them.

For dessert we tried something different than our usual. We typically get a corn cake, which is out of this world. Instead we opted for the crepes with goat's milk caramel, candied nuts, tequila soaked apples and cinnamon ice cream. All the parts worked well together but overall this still comes in behind the corn cake for me.

Service was great. As usual chef was bouncing around the restaurant from the kitchen to the front to even serving a dish or two. When we told him how much we enjoyed the meal and his restaurant generally he seemed genuinely appreciative. All in all just a great experience.

[MyLifeOnVacatio]

Thanks for posting this! I've long wanted to visit Elote and finally will take the opportunity this weekend when I go visit friends who are time-sharing there. Really looking forward to it, and made a note of the corn cake for dessert.

[Skillet Doux]

Gads, I hear so much about this place. I really need to get up there. Awesome report, Art... looking forward to MyLifeOnVacatio's as well!

[MyLifeOnVacatio]

We gave Elote a try last Friday evening as two girlfriends from Iowa made their arrival to one's timeshare in Sedona. I'm glad I read Art's post about the wait, but even knowing that it was still a bit startling to see two lines going down the entrance ramp at 7pm. One was to put your name on the waiting list to dine and the other was the line for the ‘bar’. We quickly divided and conquered, requesting the first available (as the community table looked like fun). The line for the drinks was slowed down quite a bit by the lack of clean glasses, but lucky for me the glasses they did have were for the margarita trio also described above. It looked like fun, and it was…especially maneuvering through the crowd with these glasses dangling off of the holder as we made our way to the patio area. It was a fun (and successful – didn’t spill a drop) little adventure. I’m no expert on margaritas, but they were tasty. My only quibble is that the glasses were small enough that the salt that fell in from the rims resulting in a very salty last few sips. I should remember to ask for no salt. And the bar, as mentioned above, is limited to margaritas, beer and wine, and is really just a small counter from which they distribute drinks. By the time the people ahead of us were situated with their drinks and my margaritas were prepared, the supply of other clean glasses arrived and my friends were able to enjoy a couple of local brews.

They projected a wait of 1.25 hours, but I think we ended up at our own table within 40 / 50 minutes or so. The place was very busy and service was relaxed, yet professional. On to the good stuff….the signature Elote dish was superb. So much so that I found the recipe on the internet and sent it to my friends. They already had it covered when they went back a few nights later for another great dinner and bought the cookbook themselves. Guacamole was also excellent, and a tad on the spicy side. The salsa was downright fiery. One friend doesn’t eat much meat, so she had the corn and tomato soup and the beet salad. She proclaimed the beet salad the best she’d ever had, and really loved the soup. I had a spoonful of the soup (carefully dipped so I could try both sides) and I can’t wait to go back to have a bowl for myself. My other friend and I both had enchiladas, smoked chicken for her and crab for me. Both were excellent. I really liked how the salsas / marinated red onions / crema / cheese were distributed for a nice balance on both dishes. With seafood dishes, I’m often concerned that the strong flavors of the salsa, onions, or vinegar might overpower (see: Barrio Queen), but this was done right and the crab came through loud and clear. During their visit later in the week my friend sent me a phone pic of the red snapper that she had and highly recommended it. We were too full for dessert, but I ordered the corn cake to go. They put the ice cream in a separate container, so it travelled well. We didn’t try it until morning, so I can only imagine how good it is when still warm and fresh. The cream with raspberry sauce on the side was fantastic, and I loved everything about the layers of corn in the actual cake. We nearly forgot about the ice cream in the freezer, but it was fabulous as well…lots of fresh corn flavor. Great recommendation!

[Christina]

Thanks for the reminder, I love this place, but haven't been in a while. BTW, Penny - it's not on the menu, but you can order those smoked chicken enchiladas as pollo en mole too. That's E's standing order. I tend towards anything cooked low and slow like the lamb adobo. I better go eat dinner. Now I'm starving.