Update******Now CLOSED FOR BUSINESS ***The Barrio Cafe Grand Reserva in Phoenix AZ is a newly opened very upscale Mexican Restaurant owned by a locally famous James Beard Nominated Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza. She is very well known for her guacamole topped with pomegranate seeds, her Oochinita Pibil and Chiles en Nogada.

The restaurant is very tiny and only has up to 8 small formal tables if they aren’t pushed together. The outside around the restaurant is decorated with all kinds of whimsical things like crochet around the trees, strange dolls, lots of colors, multi color string lights and all kinds of things.

The inside has a very different look. It truly feels like you are seated in a vestibule at an art museum with lots of bright natural light.

Fine Artwork is all around you that tells a story.

With music from La LLorona. Is about a ghost of a woman in-between worlds who lost her children that’s popular in Mexican folklore.

Back to the restaurant.

The bar and kitchen are postage stamp sized.

This is one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of the year. I tried to make a dinner reservation and my message was that nothing was available in the time slot I wanted for eight weeks.

I didn’t think I’d get in for lunch but I did easily.

To my surprise the lunch menu was more like a dinner menu and also sort of dinner priced.

I had to ask the waiter about some of the ingredients because some weren’t familiar to me.

We ordered and complimentary bread and roasted olives arrive.

Perhaps the olives are a nod to Arizona since olives grow almost everywhere here.

Soon a house salad arrives.

It’s not an average mixed greens salad. It’s full of mixed greens and herbs I’ve never seen or tasted before that are absolutely delicious! The vinaigrette is spicy with sweetness but different and unlike flavors I tried before. Very very good! Very powerful with flavors.

I tried the Tacuba.

They were made of what’s called tortillas de nixtamal a process were the maize is soaked and cooked in lime water (not the citrus). The tortillas were filled with fresh spinach, several sauces and many cheeses I never had before. These were good anyone would like them but I was left slightly deflated after the fireworks of flavors from the previous salad.

Half way threw me and my husband switched plates.

The Mole du Jour-Chicken.

Every mole is different as this one was to me. This wasn’t the smoothest mole. Look close to the mound of chicken. But this mole was maybe the deepest tasting one I ever tried. It was deep like coffee. I was expecting maybe part of stewed chicken but they serve matchstick cut white meat chicken breast. The chicken was tender and natural tasting. The rice was studded with some surprises  tangy and a few other flavors.

At the time of this review this newly opened restaurant was only open for three days and I wouldn’t be surprised if changes are made to the lunch menu.

For more information please visit www.BarrioCafeGranReserva.com

Only open three days so it’s too soon to rate.

Your experience may differ and I only wrote The Forking Truth.

Here’s a peek at the ladies room.