Villa Azteca

Adilenny Alvarez refers to her mother as a perfectionist. To illustrate the point, she tells of the afternoon when she stepped in to help chop onions for a batch of salsa. Alvarez was dicing away when her mother interrupted.

“She told me it was the wrong kind of onion and I had to start over,” Alvarez recalls.

The mother in this story is Susana Alvarez, chef and owner of Villa Azteca, a new and very promising spot in Oldtown Salinas. Her attention to detail is apparent in rustic tortillas, made to order and tinged with an earthy sweetness so compelling the temptation to finish off any leftovers proves irresistible, even without a filling. And in the refried beans, which she soaks and then simmers in the manner handed down mother to daughter for generations.

There is nothing here from a can. Kitchen staff even shave cinnamon from sticks for horchata and arroz con leche.

So mother in back, daughter up front – it may seem as if Villa Azteca is a simple mom-and-pop. And the mole does convey the soul found in old family recipes, the rich savor of chocolate draping over tender chicken like a blanket while ribbons of dusky spice and smoky heat weave throughout, soothed by a mellow, toasted notion from pulverized nuts that leaves you weakened by bliss.

Yet pause for a moment to look around the room. No popping yellows and reds, the decor is serene and sophisticated – and well suited to the chef’s deft touch. Blue corn tortillas and the crimson confetti of pickled red onions frame pulled chicken and a black bean rub that teeters between the smokiness of a farmhouse fireplace and the swarthy warmth of a fallow field. And that’s just from tacos de pollo guisado. Cubes of pork in the chile verde are equally delicate, leaving faintly bittersweet embers behind as they fall apart, picking up on the grassy heat from serrano chilies that blunts the sharp edges of the chef’s tomatillo sauce.

Susana Alvarez grew up in Michoacán, so you might expect avocado and cotija to be present. And, yes, they appear in support of many dishes. But this is not homestyle regional cuisine.

“The essence of her cooking is from where she was raised – the taste of where she was raised,” Adilenny explains. “She takes ideas from the different states, but puts her own taste to it.”

For one dish, the chef rests shrimp in a marmalade of peach and chipotle. In another, rib-eye gets a garlic marinade and is plated with two salsas on a grilled nopal paddle. She has served a salmon al pastor and a “burrito bowl” that suggests what Tex-Mex would be if it had been conceived well south of the border.

Villa Azteca’s staff prepare drinks with the same attention. Jamaica, for example, blushes from fresh blackberries that splash over the more floral allure of hibiscus. And it starts with whole petals rather than a pre-packaged tea.

If there was a glitch during two visits, it came after lunch one afternoon when the pen ran dry just as I started to sign the receipt. Otherwise, Villa Azteca just makes you happy.

Villa Azteca, 157 Main St., Salinas. Tue-Fri 11am-4pm, 5:30-9pm; Sat 5:30-9pm; Sun 10am-4pm. 256-2669.