POPULAR TU TIERRA HAS RETURNED
Mexican restaurant has a new location while Filipino eatery takes over the old one
It’s been a long 10 months for fans of Tu Tierra, the lively little Mexican restaurant that used to reside near the corner of Heritage and Fairmount Drives S.E. When Hector Delgado Sr. and Diana Palafox closed that location last March, the intent was to move into a new spot a few blocks away within a few weeks. But construction delays on Hanson Plaza at 8995 Bonaventure Drive SE kept them from opening the new Tu Tierra (403-2525566) until earlier this month.
Now, Mexican food lovers are flocking back for Tu Tierra’s tinga de pollo tacos ($13), enchiladas poblanas ($17) and pineapple steak quesadillas ($17). And they’ll find many new dishes on the larger menu in the bright new, 100-seat restaurant.
It’s been nine years since Delgado and Palafox arrived from Mexico City and opened the tiny Mi Tierra near the west end of Southland Drive. Four years later, when business overwhelmed the space, they moved to the larger Acadia spot that was previously a Chinese restaurant. And business grew again. So now they have a new location, with all-new equipment installed specifically for them.
Bright yellow walls off-set the wraparound windows south, east and north under a high, black ceiling. The floor is laid out in colourful swirls of metallic epoxy and flows onto a patio that is waiting for summer sun. It’s a simple, spacious room filled with the rich aromas of Mexican cooking.
Tu Tierra’s menu draws from across Mexico — slow-roasted pork cochinita pibil from the Yucatan, the chili-chocolate-peanut moles of Puebla and chorizo tacos from Delgado’s Mexico City grandmother. They even slip in a bit of Tex-Mex with fajitas. While waiting for the new restaurant to open, head chef Delgado honed his talents working in St. George, Utah, and is now focusing on creating soup-heavy lunches. He’s leaving the dinner menu to sous chef Hector Delgado — that’s Hector Delgado junior. There are two Hectors — the senior works the early shift, his son works the later one. “It saves on business cards,” says Palafox dryly. Regardless of which Hector is in the kitchen, Tu Tierra’s fans are happy.
Tu Tierra is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and takes reservations.
Meanwhile, Paolo’s Filipino Family Restaurant has settled nicely into the spot Tu Tierra exited at 8316 Fairmount Drive S.E. (403-253-9200). Owned and operated by Rose Enriquez and her family, it is named after her middle son Paolo, who has autism. Her older son Eugene runs the kitchen while younger son Gabby is in junior high school. The Enriquez family kept the rich ochre walls of Tu Tierra but renovated the kitchen and brought in new tables and chairs to upgrade the 75-seat dining room.
Eugene Enriquez studied professional cooking at SAIT and worked at various restaurants before he and his mother opened Paolo’s. He draws from his family’s Filipino heritage as well as their Singaporean experience. (The family lived in Singapore for eight years before moving to Calgary in 2000.) Having worked as a chef in a local ramen house, he adds ramen to the menu on Thursdays and Fridays and kicks it up with Filipino spices. (Pork adobo — marinated in vinegar, soy, garlic and black pepper — ramen sounds very tempting.)
The Singaporean side of the menu includes popular “hawker” street foods such as curried lamb, black pepper crab, Hainanese chicken rice and laksa. The long menu of traditional Filipino dishes includes adobo chicken, salted duck eggs, Tagalog fish and the most popular dish on the list — the braised and deep-fried crispy “pata” pork hock. It’s a wide-ranging menu that includes Filipino “kakanin” desserts of sticky rice, purple yam and rice pudding.
And if food isn’t enough, karaoke is rolled out in the side room on Friday and Saturday evenings, live streaming songs of all types from country to traditional Filipino.
Paolo’s is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Note: Monday is takeout only) and takes reservations.
Ramen aficionados might be interested in the movie Ramen Heads coming to the Globe Cinema later this month. The film follows Japan’s Ramen King Osamu Tomita as he opens his kitchen while sharing ramen tips and recipes. It’s touted as an homage to the noodle and the broth in line with the classic Tampopo of years past. Check out globecinema.ca for details or for the trailer.
One more note on the Asian food scene. Two Penny, at 1213 1st St. S.W., is now open daily at 11 a.m. and is serving a lunch menu weekdays and a dim sum-heavy brunch menu on the weekends. Note: They do not take reservations.