Mesa Visited: Some Don't Like it Hot



Emerill Legasse might have coined the cooking phrase "kick it up a notch" (add some spice!) but Bobby Flay is the one who took real southwestern 'heat' into the mainstream by adding chipotle,

habernero, jalapeño, and general spicy rubs to virtually every dish on his menus. Knowing this set-up makes it a curious challenge to purposefully take your family to the number one heat factory in NYC, Mesa Grill: you know what's coming, but you still hold out hope that some of the food is edible for kiddies.

That was just barely, by the skin of a red hot chili pepper, the case for us.  The humor started when we arrived.  The anticipation in waiting to see how we were going to damage our tongues reached a high pitched fever.

I was the hottest of the five of us to try Mesa in the first place, but because of the sinus cold of the decade that I was carrying around, I was also the only one who couldn't really taste anything.  Bobby could have poured formaldehyde over my lamb chop and I might have remarked on the 'fine texture' of the medium rare preparation.  Jan thought the plate of the night, Spice Rubbed Bison Strip Loin, was the way to go, with "Corn Ancho-chile sauce + Crispy Red Onions."  She sat next to a fire extinguisher in case of a flare-up.

Abby tried to get off easy by ordering an appetizer, Blue Corn Smoked Shrimp Tacos, with "Tomatillo, Avocado, Pickled Red Onions, Habernero + Fennel Relish."  Mini-flames encased in hard shells.  Julia, normally a steak-kid, thought the ingredients description for her Cremini Mushroom Quesadillas, a simple "Fontina, Ricotta Fried Egg + Salsa Verde," wouldn't hurt her too badly, but this wasn't case.  The green salsa verde over the top was so hot it brought tears to her eyes, she quickly made a swap for 'rubbed' bison, and swore off Flay for life.  Carly, our unknowing luckster, chose the kid cheeseburger with hamburger + cheese, no rubs.  The four of them flew around the table to the

burger like starving hawks.  As they all went on to claim that it was the best cheeseburger they had ever had, I was drinking a chipotle infused Rogue Ale that I couldn't taste, but was pretty sure it should have been good.