Tucked into an Uptown corner location at 500 East 19th Avenue, this new fine-dining Mexican concept from the team behind Park Hill's Lucina has a sleek interior and an ancestrally inspired Mexican menu.
Xiquita was an unexpected evolution for the team, which includes co-owners Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati, who were among Colorado's thirteen 2024 James Beard semifinalists.
Ahead of the opening, Casiano told Westword that the team wasn't looking for a new venture, but the turnkey status and the prime location of the building sparked an idea for a new concept where the food is presented in a deep context of tradition. “I want to be able to instill in the general populace a good understanding of where this food comes from and the rich history behind it," Casiano said.
With their friend and former Lucina cook Rene Gonzalez Mendez taking on the position as Xiquita’s executive chef, that vision has become a reality.
Modern minimalist decor and a vibrant floor-to-ceiling mural by Jahna Rae (who also created the floral mural at Lucina) define the sun-washed dining room, adjacent to a broad white marble bar that leads to the open-line kitchen.
The menu is rooted in ancestral Mexican dishes and techniques, heavily featuring masa, which has its own section on the menu. Nixtamalized corn (the raw kernels soaked in ash and water for hours before being ground and mixed with water) creates the paste known as masa — an ancient bedrock food staple in the Americas for centuries. Xiquita presents masa as its first impression in the form of a welcome plate of tortillas, fresh from the nearby comal (the flat top griddle where the masa is pressed and briefly cooked) and still warm, served with a dollop of jalapeño butter.
The masa menu includes a tetela ($16), a triangle-shaped masa “pocket” filled with refried black bean purée atop a rich mole amarillo; tlacoyo ($16), blue masa served in a format similar to a tamale filled with blended fava beans with a swipe of zippy chile arbol sauce and topped with fresh mint, red onion shavings and goat cheese crumbles. The taco de pato ($14) is a decadently savory dish of fried and shredded duck carnitas on a tortilla nixta with housemade mole and dotted with sweet-potato cream. The classic mole madre ($49), often served over roast chicken or turkey, is made here with Cornish hen and mole Oaxaqueño, sprinkled with sesame seeds.
"We go back to where food comes from and the history behind it and present it in a modern way," Casiano explains.
The "Tezcalate" from the dessert menu is decadent ice cream disguised as a cob of corn.
Molly Martin
What surprised us? The bar program.
Overseen by beverage director Henry Ottrix, the cocktail list offers an array of flavors, from a spicy vodka and mezcal martini ($16) to a frothy and fruity Guayaba Ponche Sour ($15) made with tepache, a fermented pineapple drink. Like the food offerings, the drink menu is influenced by worlds old and new. The margarita tomatillo ($15) made with blanco tequila, damiana herb, tomatillo, cucumber and citrus fruits and served with a tamarind candy-wrapped straw has “instant classic” written all over it; as does the Flor del Desierto ($16): Tinted pink with Xila hibiscus liqueur, floral Condesa gin, citrus, brut wine and soda, it takes the classic profile of an aperol spritz to a new realm.
The wine list, curated by sommelier Alexander Moon, features multiple Mexican wines such as a Garnacha Rosé from Querétaro and a Sauvignon Blanc from Valle San Vicente, offering a terroir that wine aficionados should delve into if they have not yet.
The pleasantly unexpected was a recurring theme throughout dinner. What is surprising about Xiquita’s back bar is not only the exceptionally well-curated agave spirits selection, which includes fine bottles of small-batch traditional mezcal, tequila and sotol, but that it is wonderfully devoid of any celebrity-branded, overpriced industrial swill. These Hollywood jokers don’t need to steal any more shelf space or cultural valor by being sold alongside the true traditional spirits made by actual Mexican families in mezcal’s motherland.
Xiquita has placed its intentions on creating a fully realized concept that combines history and tradition with modern flare and innovation. And from its dining room’s airy atmosphere and sharp style to the menu’s homage to old-world dishes and drinks, it has all come together in a beguiling form that allows you to touch the past while glimpsing the future.
Coming soon to this impressive new endeavor: the opening of its covered patio area and the launch of a happy hour program.
Xiquita is located at 500 East 19th Avenue and is open from 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit xiquita.co.
Check out more photos from Xiquita's debut:
