Beyond the burrito

The 3600 block of J Street is quickly becoming a mini gourmet enclave. With Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen, The Cultured & The Cured, and now, Cielito Lindo Mexican Gastronomy, it’s a destination for more than just the good beer at BonnLair.

Chef and owner Ramiro Alarcon opened Cielito Lindo in September 2013, and it’s quickly earned a loyal crowd. As part of the original team at Tequila Museo Mayahuel on K Street, Alarcon calls his cooking “gastronomia Mexicana con sabor a memoria,” or “Mexican cuisine with flavor memories.”

Whatever you call it, this is definitely not a taqueria.

The idea here is to offer dishes that are more upscale and reminiscent of Alarcon’s culinary travels throughout Mexico. He presents subtle preparations of dishes less familiar to many Americans. The attention to detail and service is especially apparent.

Instead of cheese-blanketed entrees, diners can order upscale dishes such as enchiladas de mole: tortillas wrapped around amazingly moist, flavorful chicken, bathed in a house-made mole poblano. The sauce has a million wonderful flavors, but with none of the bitterness you sometimes get from packaged moles.

A fresh agua fresca of celery and pineapple arrived at the table a brilliant green and the perfect accompaniment to the enchiladas.

The portions here are quite generous. A green salad with fruits and nuts was big enough for a meal, even without the optional meat or seafood topping. The inclusion of berries seemed odd in January, although they’re surely in season in Mexico during winter. The addition of copious citrus sections and toasted cashews went well with the slightly sweet pomegranate vinaigrette.

The restaurant’s empanaditas de salpicon con papas are little turnovers standing up amid a drizzle of ancho sauce. The crust features a bit of leavening that makes it both crunchy and a bit fluffy, something the diners at my table really liked. The filling of beef, potatoes and vegetables tastes well-flavored and just a bit spicy.

The kitchen seems especially skilled at cooking meat. Most of the dishes we tried featured moist, flavor-packed meat rather than the overly oily or dry fillings you find at some Mexican restaurants. The grilled lamb chops were the only exception, but barely. They were so small, they hardly needed cooking, so were served a bit overdone. Fortunately, they were saved by the rich brown sauce and fantastic nopales salad alongside.

The tacos de arrachera are a better example of what Cielito does right: Three soft tortillas enclose marinated strips of meltingly good steak, topped with roasted poblano chilies, lots of fresh cilantro and crema. They’re drippy, but worth every napkin on the table.

During a recent dinner here, we veered toward the spicy sautéed shrimp, but instead found ourselves waylaid by the huachinango en salsa de cilantro (red snapper in green sauce). I was thrilled with the moistness of the fish and the fresh complement of corn, spinach and silky cilantro sauce.

The menu is meatcentric, but the kitchen is vegetarian friendly as well. The crema de rajas poblanas, fully vegan and similar to a Mexican minestrone, is full of chickpeas, poblanos and onions in a rich broth uniquely flavored with vanilla and epazote. A bowlful would be a great meal on a chilly day.

Dessert was the one off-kilter experience. Everything tasted quite delicious—including the slightly zingy ancho-orange flan and the cannelloni filled with warm rice pudding. It’s just that the descriptions are misleading. The pudding is described as a “savory recipe of rice sorbet,” and a pretty plate of orange mousse in a chocolate cup is called “orange pudding.”

That aside, Cielito Lindo is nonetheless a great addition to the city. With Sacramento’s long history of Mexican heritage, diners are lucky to have such a skillful chef ready to educate palates beyond burritos and chimichangas.