Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Viva tacos at Cholo Soy Cocina
A real-estate feeding frenzy is taking place in West Palm Beach’s Antique Row district, where there is a growing and impressive list of restaurants and retail shops. This boom has led to the area’s getting a new moniker, the Dixie Dining Corridor, and new residents such as Cholo Soy Cocina, the Andean-inspired restaurant chef Clay Carnes opened in September 2016.
If you’re not familiar with Carnes, chances are you’ve tasted his food. Before earning diplomas from the French Culinary Institute and ALMA La Scoula Internazionale Di Cucina Italiana, Carnes started his career in 2005 in the kitchen of Cucina Dell’ Arte in Palm Beach. An opportunity to work at Mansion Alcazar, a boutique restaurant and hotel in Cuenta, Ecuador followed. After returning to Palm Beach County in 2011, Carnes launched the Grille Fashion Cuisine in Wellington as co-owner and executive chef. In 2016, he won the Food Network competition “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
The 600-square foot restaurant fills quickly. It’s not uncommon to see lines form out the door and waiting customers windowshopping outside neighboring antique store. The back patio holds three communal tables. A raised garden bed provides an earthy backdrop and a harvest of fresh herbs, onions and peppers. Strung Edison light bulbs shine on colorful murals.
We dodged the crowds by arriving early on a recent Friday night. Orders are filled at a counter register, delivered to your table by name and served on disposables and quarter sheet pans. After ordering and making our way out back, our para picar, or snacks, and tacos arrived quickly, filling our picnic table. The cozy eatery and casual counter service concept doesn’t lend itself to eating in
courses. If you’re interested in exploring the menu with multiple selections, consider ordering starters and returning to the counter for the rest of your meal. You’ll have to wait in line again, but it’s a small price to pay for this level of food.
An order of yuquita frita ($4.50), or yuca fries, was served with ketchup and Cholo sauce, a zesty, yellowchili-passionfruit-and-mayonnaise-based sauce. The fries were crispy, with smooth, tender centers. The starchy tubers disappeared all too quickly. Llapingachos ($4.50), two golden-brown potato cakes with an annatto-yellow hue, were enhanced by a flavorful charred corn salad and a punchy aji casero sauce.
The grilled, spiced, ear of corn on the choclo con queso ($5) was as sweet as can be, balanced by salty and shredded queso fresco; a vibrant salsa Cholo, a mix of peppers, scallions and cilantro; and finished with Cholo sauce. We heeded the chef ’s chalkboard listing the ceviche, quesadilla, veggie taco, fish taco and special taco of the day. I’m a big fan of Peruvian ceviche, so the lobster, crab and shrimp ceviche ($16) had my name all over it. A colorful melange of chilies, red onion, scallion and herbs, and a garnish of spicy plantain chips added great flavor and texture. I found the leche de tigre overwhelmed the delicate flavors of the seafood and a tad too acidic for my palate. Maybe it was the generous cup it was served in?
Our tacos were cold by the time we got around to eating them. But that didn’t deter us. Fresh, high-quality ingredients were wrapped in those scrumptious, housemade corn tortillas. Surprisingly, my dining cohorts and I each favored a different variety.
The evening’s pescadito frito ($9.50) featured yellow snapper sporting a light, crispy tempura batter revealing perfectly cooked flesh, topped with purple cabbage, pickled pineapple peppers and salsa Cholo. Charred pork belly ($10) served with salsa Cholo and what appeared to be jicama, instead of the menu-listed pickled papaya, was rich, moist and succulent. Pickled scallion, queso fresco and chimichurri mayo changed things up on the grilled skirt steak ($10.50), which was cooked to a delightful and tender medium rare. Pollo ($6) gets a kick from achiote sofrito, purple cabbage slaw and smoked chile crema. Savoring the Choclo con queso and pescadito frito, my tablemates clamored for more and braved the ordering line, now stretching out the door, for seconds.
Sugarcoated churros ($4), this evening’s dessert offering, arrived with a side of dulce de leche for dunking, served as it should be — thick, creamy and delicious.
Cholo Soy Cocina is a welcome addition to the burgeoning neighborhood. What the restaurant lacks in size it makes up in charm and well-executed food made with top-shelf products. Now only a twinkle in his eyes, Carnes speaks of his next project, a full-service, 30- to 40-seat restaurant: “It’s not a matter of what, it’s more a matter of where and when. For now, this is getting me to my next step.” It will be interesting to watch, and taste, as Carnes continues to blossom and grow.