Lolita's smoked beef tostada is one of the city's most vivid and original takes on the current tartare trend: The applewood-smoked cubes of still-raw beef come dusted with pequin spice over a roasted jalapeño crema sparked with capers, cornichons, and crunchy fried red onions. The Mexico City-style quesadilla folds a crisp tortilla made from heirloom blue corn over zucchini flowers, melty Oaxaca cheese, and inky bursts of earthy huitlacoche. The duck-fat tamale is an instant classic, a husk-wrapped bundle of steamy masa fluff topped with shredded smoked duck leg meat and a mahogany mole rich with ancho peppers and peanuts. And when this kitchen is on, I see the appeal. What Lolita does is simply different, built on good ingredients and modern style, with a fresh touch and updated aesthetic for a mainstream audience.
I do not necessarily prefer this Lolita to many of the affordable taquerias that have sprouted like epazote along Ninth Street south of Washington Avenue. The open kitchen, which once cut straight across the rear, has been run along the north wall beside the new 16-seat concrete bar, allowing the alley-shaped room to flow, with votive lights flickering against dark brick walls and black-and-white chevrons made from reclaimed wood.
But the new look is handsome, energetic, and moody. If only they'd considered some soundproofing with the revamp - the narrow space is as earsplitting as ever. So it was time for a fresh look for a well-used space that's been spilling crowds onto the sidewalk since Day 1. ValeMar has matured as a restaurant duo, too. But the corner of 13th and Sansom has become the kind of nightlife destination where one needs liquor sales to thrive.
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It was also their last, the recent acquisition of its liquor license turning yet another pioneer's page on a waning trend that helped so many successful young restaurateurs - and emerging neighborhoods - get their start.
Lolita was the first of their two BYOs together (remember Bindi?). And few (save for early fans of Audrey Claire) knew of chef Marcie Turney, let alone her partner and front-of-the-house ace, Valerie Safran.Ī decade later, they are ValeMar - the undisputed taste queens of the neighborhood many call Midtown Village, with a half-dozen diverse restaurants and businesses on 13th Street and another to serve classic American food (Bud & Marilyn's) on tap for the southeast corner at Locust Street by the end of this year. Philly's Mexican immigrant community was only just starting to take root and give us a taste of true taqueria cooking. Developer Tony Goldman's vision was in its infancy for 13th Street, which was still a seedy red-light district.
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Just think: When this 50-seat Nuevo Mexicano bistro first opened in 2004 with its pretty salmon tostaditas and virgin margarita mixers, the city's stylish new BYOB revolution was just coming into full bloom. But few places illuminate so many changing aspects of our dining world as Lolita, where the spinning "trompo" spit stacked high with a cone of chile-spiced pork is only one of many fresh new details that intrigue me about its renovation. Ten years in the life of a restaurant is one of the best ways to mark the evolution of a city.
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