Sizzling Fun and Focused Flavors at Cantina Laredo

Walking into the year-old Cantina Laredo restaurant situated in the King of Prussia mall about 30 miles west of Philadelphia is a pleasant if unremarkable experience. Furnished in rich browns and cool grays, with semi-circular banquettes set into the walls and a large bar situated to one side, the place is appealing without being overwhelming. Nothing particularly screams “Mexican fusion”—any type of cuisine might lie in wait.

All that changes once you sit and have a look at the menu. Arranged traditionally, with appetizers, soups and salads; specialties; entrees; and desserts, the menu is focused and clean—the mark of a restaurant that knows exactly what it is.

The general manager and proprietor, Mark Watson, came out to greet us, and informed us that we were in for a treat—a four-course tasting menu prepared especially for us.

To start, he had the bar send us two specialty drinks: A pineapple margarita, and a mango mojito. Both were excellent, if sweet (especially the mojito), with fresh fruit, and in the case of the mojito, freshly muddled mint and a sugar-cane stick.
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We also enjoyed chips and two varieties of excellent homemade salsa, one fiery-hot and served warm, and one on the milder side.

Our knowledgeable and friendly waiter, Abraham, then prepared our first course tableside—the homemade guacamole. This should be ordered just for the freshness of the ingredients and the spectacle at your table.

Fresh avocados were crushed with the zip of lime and jalapenos, cilantro, salt, and other fresh ingredients. Paired with Laredo’s whisper-thin homemade tortilla chips, this is a must-have.
My dining companion and I both found it a trifle salty, but otherwise excellent.

Next came our appetizers—a trio composed of two tuna tartare tacos, two carnitas tacos al carbon, and two shrimp and chorizo empanadas. My favorite was the carnitas taco; its meaty, sour flavor combined perfectly with the homemade soft corn tortilla.

It reminded me of the authentic Mexican street food I enjoyed in Houston. My wife enjoyed the tuna taco, made with sushi-grade tuna. The empanadas was doughy and delicious, yet the shrimp was a trifle scarce.

Our main course was ready just as we were finishing our appetizer. The house specialty, Camaron Poblana Asada, stopped us both in our tracks. Two thin slices of flank steak, each bearing diamond-shaped grill marks, wrapped themselves around a roasted poblano pepper, which was stuffed with melted Monterey Jack.

Gorgeous—and delicious. Served with excellent jasmine-lime rice and roasted asparagus, the steak was fork tender, perfectly seasoned, and tremendously addictive. It was easily our favorite of the savory courses.

Yet we couldn’t ignore the other two main offerings—a wonderful vegetarian enchilada with tender artichoke hearts, and two bone-in carnitas, or braised pork shanks. The latter, tender and smother with chipotle-wine sauce, were melt-in-your-mouth succulent and worth the price of admission.

But hang on folks—the best was yet to come. Another tableside treat, our dessert was something out of a gastronomic fantasy. Abraham first slid a large wedge of homemade apple pie onto a hot cast-iron plate. To this he added cool cinnamon ice cream.

And then, the piece-de-resistance:

A generous scoop of warm, sweet brandy butter that instantly bubbled to life on the hot metal. Delicious smells of apple, cinnamon, and warm brandy filled the air, and we dug in. Easily the best part of the night, the sweet, hot apple pie combined succulently with the butter and ice cream, and though we were stuffed to the gills, we couldn’t stop eating had our lives depended on it.

The service at Cantina Laredo was nothing short of excellent from the time we were welcomed inside to the time we walked out to our car, and we will certainly be back many times in the future.

Don’t let this laser-focused, authentically inspired restaurant’s suburban look fool you—this place knows exactly what it wants to be, and it achieves that goal with aplomb.

4.5 Stars out of 5.

We ended our night with a stay at the Hyatt House, in a tower suite overlooking the mall, with a fantastic breakfast in the morning.

PLUS: 

• Tequila Dinner- An exclusive four-course dinner with Don Julio Tequila pairings on November 11, beginning at 7 PM. The cost is $49.99/person and space is limited. 
• Veterans Day- All veterans and active military personnel can enjoy a complimentary meal (up to $15) on Veterans Day as a small thank you for their service.

Pictures by christine tarlecki and Stephen trimble. They may not be used, reproduced or reused for any reason. Please contact with any questions. 

By Stephen Trimble, guest blogger

Stephen Trimble is a freelance writer in the Philadelphia area.

Special thanks to:
Mark Watson and his team,
Ariel Vegotsky at Vault, and
Natalie McCrea at the Hyatt!

  

BACARDÍ & Philadelphia Ushered in Halloween with Epic House Party!

The City of Brotherly Love served as the first official stop in the Ultimate House Party Tour on October 31^st, 2015. Partygoers experienced first hand the brand’s interpretation of a house party with musical performances by Chromeo and R. City. 

The “custom-built house with five different rooms – from a spacious living room with couches to a backyard full of party games and activities” was decked out with everything needed to get the party started including the classic red cup filled with specialty BACARDÍ cocktails.

Notable attendees included Canadian electro-funk duo, Chromeo; American hip-hop duo, R. City; DJ Melo-X; MTV VJ host Nessa; celebrity chef, Chef Roble; local Philadelphia street photographer Conrad Benner; and DJ Clark Kent.  The notable attendees were full participants in the event, as they partied with the rest of the attendees.

Prior to the House Party, BACARDÍ hosted the above notable attendees in an intimate VIP cocktail roundtable for media and VIPs. MC’d by Nessa, the group provided insight into their multi-faceted artist’s hustle and their passions beyond their platforms, their artistic and personal background and what fuels their hustle.

Notably, Chef Roble discussed his unorthodox path to the hit TV show, The Chew, and DJ Clark Kent reminisced about the lack of DJ technology when he began his career and how he was forced to branch into different areas to become relevant.

The party was full of surprises such as hash tagging on Instagram to get print photos, a lawn filled with games, and make up station.
Half way through the event, a guest was promoted to push a red button, which brought the curtain down to the duo Chromeo performing. 

The evening’s festivities culminated with an exclusive DJ set from Chromeo, who played their popular song “Jealous” and a live performance from R. City, who sang their hit single and crowd favorite “Locked Away.” Fans were invited on stage to sing and dance with R. City as they performed several songs from their new album “What Dreams Are Made Of.”

Over 250 attendees celebrated the night away with BACARDÍ . One thing is certain; the brand knows how to throw a great party.

The BACARDÍ Untameable House Party tour will continue down the East Coast stopping in Washington, D.C. (November 13); Atlanta, Ga. (November 20); and Miami, Fla. (December 4).

All images by GETTY for Bacardi.

Written by guest blogger Deja Cromartie.

Can’t Fight Fate book review

The main character Nikki went to psychic years ago. Now she lives in LA from Australia and every guy she dates she believes he could be the one the psychic mentioned a two-initialed green-eyed man that she cannot pursue, he must find and follow her.

There is little dialogue; there are a lot of sentences in her head. We are in Nikki’s head for the most part, and it’s very choppy. Not much action, it’s just her jumping-around thoughts that read like a young kid on too much coffee. This kind of prose might sound fun while writing it, but the audience doesn’t need to know every thought. They want action and dialogue. They want how the character feels and acts, not just a huge stream of consciousness. There was much back and forth between then and now, and sometimes confusing to what was present day. The antics in which she ‘gets herself into!” are a bit contrived, and a lot of Nikki makes me want to say, girl, chill out with some wine and relax.

This book feels like a high school girl’s rambling diary- many exclamation points!!! Many ‘sigh, what should I do?! I just want love!!!!’
These laments and much of the grammar and punctuation makes me wonder who edited this.

I like and get the idea of trying to fit your life into something you’d like to think is pre-planned. Horoscopes and psychics-who doesn’t try to fit our lives into nice little boxes that a daily horoscope tells us? Unless you get very specific with a psychic, it’s easy to think every moment in your life is THE ONE that the psychic mentioned during a reading. Nikki and her best friend Sioban navigate life in LA, but not much is spend on what it’s like to be an Aussie transplant living on the Coast. I’d like to see definitive actions and less of what’s in her head, because I’m not connecting with her and not really caring if she falls in love or not. More on fate and psychics would be great in the rest of the trilogy, because the potential to be great is here.

The author is trying to get people to see that fate is out there and you can’t fight it, but trying to navigate through Nikki’s constant babble is distracting and arduous. Who’s to say this green-eyed man that is for HER exists? Does he wear contacts?? (I kid) I feel a bit sorry for her too- waiting, hoping, and praying what someone told her is her solid future. Also, at the end, her best friend announces she just found out she’s pregnant, and that it’s a boy. I’m pretty sure you can’t tell the baby’s gender until at least 16 weeks..not the first month.

And the end just stops. She leaves us to read the next book to see what happens, but there’s no closure. There’s no, is this the one, or yes, is CJ it? Does she decide to be single or go for it? Laying the groundwork for the next two books just seems excessive. What’s next for Nikki? She IS fighting fate pretty hard here, because what she was told is probably not who she will fall in love and ultimately end up with. Do we even care?

* A copy of the book was sent to me for review purposes.

Time for NOVEMBER GOALS! Get accomplished and organized this month!

It’s November!

October I completed most of them and was crazy busy. And now…

Time for NOVEMBER GOALS!!!

• To fully organize my clothes and my closet
• To fully organize my kitchen and items
• To fully organize the office (why is it that the office always gets everything dumped into?!)
• To purge yard sale items- donate, sell, or give away
• To spend more time with family and friends
• To get more sleep
• To get back to the gym 4 days a week
• To cook more and take out less

What are your November goals?