Abadía Bassó - Always something new | | by
Anna Reisman - June 3, 2002. |
Although it is always a pleasure
to have dinner -or lunch- at this gem of a restaurant,
it is just as pleasurable and even more exciting to
try the new dishes that Chef José Ruiz and partner
Roberto Lavallée come up with at regular intervals.
Never a dull moment for your palate here, that's for
sure!
The last time my friend and I went
there, we tried some of the newcomers to the menu, instead
of the dishes towards which we always gravitate when
we go there. This time, we tried three of the new dishes
among the favorites on the menu: an appetizer, a soup
and a main course.
The appetizer looked like a beautifully
crafted design on the plate, so much so that we were
reluctant to disturb its arrangement. Try to visualize
it: Here was a flower whose "petals" were
made of a carpaccio of salmon and white fish (rolled
together, then thinly sliced) arranged around a center
mound of mixed baby lettuces atop delicate slices of
sharp Parmesan cheese, enhanced with capers, ginger,
olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Suffice it to say that fresh bread
our young, good looking, polite and oh-so efficient
waiter had brought us was quickly depleted as we used
it to sop up every last little morsel of food and every
last little drop of dressing.
Next came the soup. Gazpacho, but
not traditional. I don't know if José Ruiz would
ever serve anything that is ordinary or common so we
knew that the gazpacho would be special, but we were
still surprised at the presentation. It was served in
a European-style soup dish (that's the big, deep, plate-size
dishes with rims) filled with a refreshing gazpacho
nearly burgundy in color, with a stuffed tomato sitting
in the middle! I don't know what we enjoyed most, the
rich cool flavors of the gazpacho or the delicious combination
of finely-chopped jicama, herbs and such that filled
the tomato… More bread, please.
The main course consisted of a filet
of delicate white fish poached in an essence of lemon
tea and laid on a bed of green lentils …in a red
curry sauce. Now how's that for different? More bread,
please. And for those of you who, like me, still aren't
used to "hot" stuff, whether Mexican chilies
or Indian curry, do not fret. Chef José assured
us that diners can choose the degree of "heat"
for their curry dish at Abadía Bassó!
What should we order for dessert,
we wondered. How about a "heladito" as suggested
by Roberto? That sounded fine. The vanilla ice cream
is served with a flavorful coulis of fruit, candied
tejocote (delicious) …and a chocolate truffle covered
with chopped nuts! Oh, yes. As wonderful as vanilla
ice cream is in Mexico -where real vanilla is used without
sparing the extract-, those of you who know me know
how I react to real chocolate. Another friend had joined
our table and she chatted with my companion as I was
doing all I could to try and make the chocolate truffle
last just a little bit longer. To no avail. It was just
too good.
My recommendation? If you haven't
been to Abadía Bassó yet, you don't know
what you're missing! And if you are already familiar
with this "hidden jewel", then go back soon
and try out the new dishes!
Abadía Bassó is located
at 224 Hidalgo St. in the heart of downtown. They close
on Sundays but they're open for lunch and early dinner
and all the way to late at night. Tel.: 223-1374. pvmomto3@hotmail.com | 
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