San Francisco Chronicle: Link to Original Article Website
Latin touch may bring luck to location
Friday, May 27, 2005
Latin touch may bring luck to location
Friday, May 27, 2005
Soon after the Thornhill Cafe shuttered its windows, new owners took over and presented seasonal California
cuisine at Jackson's Canvas (the name alluding to the work by local artists displayed in the two dining rooms).
There is little if any walk-by traffic on Thornhill Drive, and apparently commuters heading up to their homes nearer
the top of the ridge didn't stop in sufficient numbers. Canvas was rolled up for good late last year.
Enter a new team and a new idea: Make people sit up and take notice by offering an anything-but-customary blend
of Cuban/Latin American small plates and ethnically oriented live entertainment. Now five months old, the
restaurant, La Taza de Cafe, seems to have hit the right note - on each of three recent visits, both weekdays and
weekends, few seats were empty by the time the entertainment started.
The clientele is a mixture of young Spanish-speaking groups, part- or all- white couples and a lot of families.
Actually, that's hardly surprising: Small plates at a reasonable price are a perfect fit with children. The youngsters
can try a little bite of this and a bite of that, and what they don't like, mom and dad can finish. It's a safe bet that
they will happily nibble the Cuban sandwich ($8.50), three generous pieces of soft white baguette, pressed panini
style with ham and cheese. The atmosphere is fun, relaxed and noisy, so an occasional squeal or kvetch will go
virtually unnoticed.
Physically, the two-room restaurant, distinguished by an enormous, black- tile-framed oval mirror in one room,
porthole windows in the other, hasn't changed substantially from La Taza's predecessors, but track lighting makes
the walls, now sponged in cafe au lait, glow, and the dark-wood plank floors are a big improvement over the
nondescript carpeting they replaced.
The rest of the decor fits the casual mood -- red table linens, chairs swathed in black, as is the young and eager
wait staff. They are efficient, attentive and all smiles, and really make diners feel welcome.
Since the opening late last year, the efficiency quotient has gone up considerably. Water glasses are never more
than half-empty, high chairs are dragged from the back moments after a family with a small child enters, food is
served so promptly you could be in and out in an hour.
Chances are that you won't want to be out that soon because it's an agreeable place to spend a couple of hours.
The live entertainment, ranging from belly dancing to Latin jazz, is spirited if conversation-killing, and even before it
starts, recorded Latin music sets a lively pace. Thankfully, no attempt is made to create a phony Hemingwayesque,
Old Havana ambience. Only a wooden cigar box for spare utensils on each table evokes the Cuba of flowing rum
and swirling smoke.
The food, alas, is not as consistent as the atmosphere and service.
On my first visit, puerco viejo empanadas ($11) were so doughy and bland that even the grilled pineapple-jicama
slaw served alongside couldn't redeem them. On the next visit, the empanadas were measurably better, although
still not stellar. The peanut pesto served alongside might have brightened the taste, but there was not much more
of it than a decorative dab on the plate.
Fortunately, things looked up decidedly with chops de Cordero ($15), three succulent lamb chops doused with a
dark-rum-and-mint reduction and accompanied by fluffy horseradish mashed potatoes. They were so good I
regretted offering to share the order with my companion.
The seafood in ceviche Andino ($12), served in a pretty, flared glass dish, was impeccably fresh, but its
citrus-and-white-wine marinade made me wish for more oomph, although a few kernels of toasted Peruvian corn
and sweet yam chips did add welcome textural contrast.
I love plantains, and the platanos maduros ($7) were expertly fried, although I would have liked more queso fresco.
This is an odd quirk of this restaurant, which otherwise radiates generosity: They skimp on the sidekicks - - the
queso fresco, the pesto for the empanadas, mojo sauce that comes with fried yucca ($7), or chimichurri sauce with
pinchos ($9), skewers snaked with thin slices of well-seasoned tender beef.
Most of La Taza's food is lightly, almost timidly, seasoned, which detracts from the good ingredients in dishes like
arroz con pollo ($12), a mound of chicken-studded rice that cries out for a zippy sauce.
However, in camarones al mojo de ajo ($10), the delicate tail-on sauteed prawns get a proper assist from onions
and garlic in a sauce redolent of lemon and sherry. And there is nothing shy about chipotle albondigas ($10),
sturdy Cuban meatballs in abundant chipotle-soffrito sauce.
For dessert, La Taza does a simple flan ($6) and tres leches cake ($6), a sweet and moist cake (which, again,
could have used more than a few dots of sweet-tart fruit sauce). But far and away my favorite is the third dessert,
empanada dulce ($5), two generous, crisply fried empanadas filled with either pineapple or a smooth custard.
La Taza's moderately priced selection of a little over a dozen wines (most poured by the glass as well) combines
imports and California bottles, and the four beers include Hatuey from Puerto Rico ($5). Three sangrias ($7-$8
glass/$21-$24 carafe) seem appropriate while watching flamenco or Cuban belly dancing, but diners who don't
want alcohol are in for a treat, too -- Spanish sidra ($2.50) is the most refreshing sparkling cider imaginable.
If you want to linger after dinner to watch and listen to the performances, you might sip some port or sherry or some
good coffees, fitting for a restaurant called La Taza de Cafe -- definitely my cup of coffee.
cuisine at Jackson's Canvas (the name alluding to the work by local artists displayed in the two dining rooms).
There is little if any walk-by traffic on Thornhill Drive, and apparently commuters heading up to their homes nearer
the top of the ridge didn't stop in sufficient numbers. Canvas was rolled up for good late last year.
Enter a new team and a new idea: Make people sit up and take notice by offering an anything-but-customary blend
of Cuban/Latin American small plates and ethnically oriented live entertainment. Now five months old, the
restaurant, La Taza de Cafe, seems to have hit the right note - on each of three recent visits, both weekdays and
weekends, few seats were empty by the time the entertainment started.
The clientele is a mixture of young Spanish-speaking groups, part- or all- white couples and a lot of families.
Actually, that's hardly surprising: Small plates at a reasonable price are a perfect fit with children. The youngsters
can try a little bite of this and a bite of that, and what they don't like, mom and dad can finish. It's a safe bet that
they will happily nibble the Cuban sandwich ($8.50), three generous pieces of soft white baguette, pressed panini
style with ham and cheese. The atmosphere is fun, relaxed and noisy, so an occasional squeal or kvetch will go
virtually unnoticed.
Physically, the two-room restaurant, distinguished by an enormous, black- tile-framed oval mirror in one room,
porthole windows in the other, hasn't changed substantially from La Taza's predecessors, but track lighting makes
the walls, now sponged in cafe au lait, glow, and the dark-wood plank floors are a big improvement over the
nondescript carpeting they replaced.
The rest of the decor fits the casual mood -- red table linens, chairs swathed in black, as is the young and eager
wait staff. They are efficient, attentive and all smiles, and really make diners feel welcome.
Since the opening late last year, the efficiency quotient has gone up considerably. Water glasses are never more
than half-empty, high chairs are dragged from the back moments after a family with a small child enters, food is
served so promptly you could be in and out in an hour.
Chances are that you won't want to be out that soon because it's an agreeable place to spend a couple of hours.
The live entertainment, ranging from belly dancing to Latin jazz, is spirited if conversation-killing, and even before it
starts, recorded Latin music sets a lively pace. Thankfully, no attempt is made to create a phony Hemingwayesque,
Old Havana ambience. Only a wooden cigar box for spare utensils on each table evokes the Cuba of flowing rum
and swirling smoke.
The food, alas, is not as consistent as the atmosphere and service.
On my first visit, puerco viejo empanadas ($11) were so doughy and bland that even the grilled pineapple-jicama
slaw served alongside couldn't redeem them. On the next visit, the empanadas were measurably better, although
still not stellar. The peanut pesto served alongside might have brightened the taste, but there was not much more
of it than a decorative dab on the plate.
Fortunately, things looked up decidedly with chops de Cordero ($15), three succulent lamb chops doused with a
dark-rum-and-mint reduction and accompanied by fluffy horseradish mashed potatoes. They were so good I
regretted offering to share the order with my companion.
The seafood in ceviche Andino ($12), served in a pretty, flared glass dish, was impeccably fresh, but its
citrus-and-white-wine marinade made me wish for more oomph, although a few kernels of toasted Peruvian corn
and sweet yam chips did add welcome textural contrast.
I love plantains, and the platanos maduros ($7) were expertly fried, although I would have liked more queso fresco.
This is an odd quirk of this restaurant, which otherwise radiates generosity: They skimp on the sidekicks - - the
queso fresco, the pesto for the empanadas, mojo sauce that comes with fried yucca ($7), or chimichurri sauce with
pinchos ($9), skewers snaked with thin slices of well-seasoned tender beef.
Most of La Taza's food is lightly, almost timidly, seasoned, which detracts from the good ingredients in dishes like
arroz con pollo ($12), a mound of chicken-studded rice that cries out for a zippy sauce.
However, in camarones al mojo de ajo ($10), the delicate tail-on sauteed prawns get a proper assist from onions
and garlic in a sauce redolent of lemon and sherry. And there is nothing shy about chipotle albondigas ($10),
sturdy Cuban meatballs in abundant chipotle-soffrito sauce.
For dessert, La Taza does a simple flan ($6) and tres leches cake ($6), a sweet and moist cake (which, again,
could have used more than a few dots of sweet-tart fruit sauce). But far and away my favorite is the third dessert,
empanada dulce ($5), two generous, crisply fried empanadas filled with either pineapple or a smooth custard.
La Taza's moderately priced selection of a little over a dozen wines (most poured by the glass as well) combines
imports and California bottles, and the four beers include Hatuey from Puerto Rico ($5). Three sangrias ($7-$8
glass/$21-$24 carafe) seem appropriate while watching flamenco or Cuban belly dancing, but diners who don't
want alcohol are in for a treat, too -- Spanish sidra ($2.50) is the most refreshing sparkling cider imaginable.
If you want to linger after dinner to watch and listen to the performances, you might sip some port or sherry or some
good coffees, fitting for a restaurant called La Taza de Cafe -- definitely my cup of coffee.
The Chops de Cordero are wonderful.
Oakland:
Latin touch may bring luck to location
Karola Saekel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 27, 2005
Latin rhythms may turn out to be the right tone for a charming
Oakland Hills restaurant venue that's seen too many changes in
the span of a few years.
Latin touch may bring luck to location
Karola Saekel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 27, 2005
Latin rhythms may turn out to be the right tone for a charming
Oakland Hills restaurant venue that's seen too many changes in
the span of a few years.
