arts & life out to eat Feel The Heat Get a ‘kick’ at Huerto Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar. Allison Jacobs | Special to the Jewish News L ooking to add a kick to your din- ing routine? Head over to West Bloomfield for some appetizing Mexican-style cuisine. Huerto Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar on Orchard Lake Road far surpasses your average Tex-Mex burrito chain, with affordable prices, homemade dishes and a welcoming ambiance. Today’s Huerto drastically differs from the one you may have tried back in 2013, when it first opened. In the beginning of Huerto’s existence, the restaurant’s mixed reviews and standard menu weren’t attracting custom- ers as rapidly as owner and Michigan native Mark Mendola had hoped. To counter that trend, Mendola upped the freshness factor with starters like guacamole made from scratch. Free crispy tortilla chips and a generous portion of salsa are served at the start of the meal. Start with an appetizer, like Mexiskins, crisp potato skins topped with chorizo, then smothered in melted cheese, diced tomatoes and chopped scallions and served with fresh sour cream. The quesadilla appetizer is also a delight and can easily pose as an entree. The fajita- style chicken perfectly complements the melted cheese interior, but guests can also opt for shredded beef and chicken, steak or shrimp. Plentiful sides include pico de gallo, guaca- mole, sour cream and rice. For dinner, a favorite of Huerto- goers are the sizzling fajitas. Diners can select various protein options including chicken, shrimp, steak or a combo. Presented table-side in a steaming skillet with plenty of vegetables and zesty seasonings, this dish is served with a side of warm flour tortillas and flavorful rice and beans. An interesting take on a traditional taco is the buffalo shrimp taco, flour tortilla stuffed with hand-battered shrimp, deep-fried and tossed in Huerto’s hot sauce and topped with shredded cabbage, fresh cilantro, pico and creamy popper sauce. If you’re simply not in a Mexican food mood, Huerto’s menu spans far beyond traditional fare, with popular items such as tender ribs and hearty burgers. Dessert offerings include the Chocolate Chimi, rich, Hershey’s chocolate and roasted almonds wrapped in a soft flour tortilla, then deep-fried until it’s golden crispy on the outside, or the Tres Leches Cake, sponge cake soaked in a traditional blend of three sweet milks until it’s supremely moist and custard-like in flavor. In addition to an array of lunch and din- ner selections, their drinks will not disap- point. They offer more than 90 varieties of tequila and mezcal, which can stand alone or are featured in their specialty margaritas. Must-have cocktails include the Michigan Cherry Margarita, which offers a blend of sweet and tart, and the Huerto Margarita, featuring Lunazul Reposado Tequila, Contreau Noir, fresh-squeezed lime juice and simple syrup on the rocks. A tequila aficionado himself, Mendola is known to go out of his way to purchase brands specifically requested by customers, along with locally sourced brews. “Our drinks have constantly evolved,” Mendola says. “We’re using more home- brewed beers to support the greater com- munities, and we want to support local distillers.” Mendola continues to look for ways to please his customres. He hires talented bands on Friday and Saturday evenings, and is pleased to see guests dancing and bopping their heads along to Latin-contemporary tunes. Plans to re-vamp the outdoor patio with new furniture are currently in the works. Scheduled to open on Cinco de Mayo, the outdoor patio, with its own fireplace and plenty of seating, is yet another reason to spend an afternoon or evening at Huerto. * Huerto Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar 6199 Orchard Lake Road West Bloomfield (248) 865-2900 huertotequilabar.com Avalon To Call Downtown Cafe ‘Hearth And Soul’ Martin Michalek Special to the Jewish News W arm scones and breakfast sandwiches will be served all morning at Avalon International Bread’s new cafe in Downtown Detroit at 1049 Woodward Ave. The cafe will be called Hearth and Soul and fill a vacancy in a Bedrock Real Estate Services-managed property near Campus Martius. Right now, patrons looking for fresh cof- fee and flaky-crusted bread line up outside Avalon’s Midtown shop before it opens at 6 a.m. When Avalon originally opened in 1997, Detroit’s noteworthy “Cass Corridor” neighborhood (which runs alongside Cass Avenue from the Masonic Temple up to Wayne State) had little investment. Avalon helped change the neighborhood into a pre- mier destination. (To convey just how much the Cass Corridor area has evolved into the larger Midtown, consider that President Barack Obama lunched there last month during his visit to the auto show.) Jackie Victor, who is the founder and proprietor of Avalon International Breads, 54 February 4 • 2016 Jackie Victor says the name Hearth and Soul has twinned meanings. “Avalon has been the hearth and soul of Detroit since 1997, and we’re going to still be that in Downtown. The hearth will bring that warm feeling you get when you walk into a bakery,” she says, “but on the soul side, we want to make sure this food is healthy.” When Victor says healthy, she doesn’t mean just for the body, but also for the local food economy; menu items will be seasonal and made with locally sourced food. “We’ll serve soups and salads made with locally grown produce and spreads made with locally grown beans. Menu items will be put together in really interesting combi- nations that complement the integrity of the ingredients,” Victor says. The familiar items people know and love will still be there, but newly hired executive Evan Gonzalez Jackie Victor’s popular bakery to open new location on Woodward Avenue. chef Maggie Long (former proprietor of the Ann Arbor/Detroit restaurants called the Jolly Pumpkin) will add “some really deli- cious light breakfast offer- ings,” Victor adds. Pancakes, oats, and hot grains will all be served in the morning to keep folks smiling. And for those whose mornings need an aromatic cup of coffee, the cafe will serve a warming roast called the Hearth and Soul b lend. During lunch hours, Avalon’s Hearth and Soul cafe will have hearty soups and crisp salads made with fresh greens, all of which are grown in the Motor City. “There will be other hot items in addi- tion to the soups and salads,” Victor notes, though the details of Avalon’s lunch and din- ner menus are still being finalized. “For the first time, we’ll be offering dinner options, which we’re still planning. Patrons can expect light cafe offerings with interesting soul food.” Catering will be available during breakfast and lunch hours, which Victor says will be a major part of the Downtown business model. “We’re developing a whole new catering arm for breakfast and lunch to make sure Detroit stays healthy and well fed. There are 50,000 people within a five-minute walk in Downtown Detroit so it’ll be really fun to be in the middle of a place with that many people.” Expanding Avalon’s operations also means more workers, with 25 new jobs on the way and more food being brought by local farm- ers. “The cafe signifies an expansion not only in terms of foods we offer, but also in the jobs to be created,” Victor says. Avalon, which currently employs 65 peo- ple, will grow to a team of 90. “I’m excited to focus on the healthy edge of eating, which is how so many of us want to eat on a daily basis.” Hearth and Soul’s 2,900-square-foot cafe is expected to open this summer. *