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There’s a hot new Mexican place in town. No, not this town. But it’s got food that will stop you in your tracks — in Leetsdale.
Where?
Leetsdale is a tiny town out past Sewickley, on Ohio River Boulevard. Here, on an otherwise quiet residential street, California transplants Angus and Donna Peterkin opened Azul Bar y Cantina, and Leetsdale hasn’t been the same since. In an old building whose exposed-brick aesthetic is as urbane as any downtown loft, the Peterkins serve a Southern California style of Mexican cooking that has no peer in these parts, and the joint is jumping.
Azul attracts a crowd, and a diverse one at that: Families of all sorts filled the dining room, along with couples on dates, laughing groups of friends, and business associates spicing up a workday that had lapped long into evening. Waiting for a seat at one of the chunky, polished wood tables was a pleasure with Azul’s top-notch margaritas in hand.
Once seated, we ordered appetizers. Jicama, described as “a traditional Mexican cantina vegetable,” came in crunchy sticks stacked Lincoln-log style on the plate and flavored with lime juice and chili pepper. The vegetable was meaty and hearty, the seasoning piquant and refreshing.
Taquitos were crunchy, cigar-size rolls of corn tortilla around pork, beef and chicken fillings. Served with queso fresca and the traditional Mexican condiments of sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo, this was a satisfying preview of the kitchen’s prowess with the fresh ingredients of the Southwest.
Mexican-style shrimp cocktail was a variant on ceviche, or citrus-cured fish. The shrimp, tartened by its lime bath, was served in a goblet filled with a ketchup-based sauce both spicy and sweet, joined by chunks of avocado and cucumber. Azul’s home-fried tortilla chips were the ideal utensils.
By this time, we had drained our first round of margaritas and, though quite satisfied by our appetizers, required more food to accompany, yes, more margaritas. Angelique selected a “wet” burrito (containing salsa and sour cream) with beans and shredded chicken. The size of Popeye’s forearm and smothered with melted cheese, the burrito was packed with a tantalizing combination of hot, cool, spicy and savory ingredients, well-distributed throughout. It was as delicious as it was huge.
Fish tacos were smaller, simpler, and just as good. Crisp, slightly sweet strips of deep-fried cod were served with shredded red cabbage on soft tortillas. The exceptional flavor came from a creamy salsa reminiscent of a remoulade.
Steak fajitas rounded out our dinner. To Jason’s delight, Azul uses skirt steak, an authentic cut which is nevertheless rare in these parts. The beefy skirt steak had ample flavor, and the kitchen’s grilling intensified it. Hot tortillas and strips of peppers and onion completed Azul’s excellent version of this Mexican restaurant staple.
We ended our meal with that improbable Mexican dessert, fried ice cream. Crispy, creamy and strongly flavored with cinnamon, it again proved the genius of Mexican cuisine for packing flavors within other flavors, like edible nesting dolls.
Colorful, convivial, and combining the best of Californian creativity and Mexican tradition, Azul puts Leetsdale on the culinary map.
This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2006.
Place is dirty..Azul needs to invest in a cleaning service before they make someone seriously ill or at worst case, hospitalize and death.
Don’t be fooled by the appearance of food…it looks good, but the ingredients art not fresh or stored properly.
all food arrives frozen from none other than food service conglomerate: SYSCO..
So much for home-made huh??????
Azul USE to be one of my favorite places. I heard from friends about the quality of service and food but brushed it off. This past Friday I experienced it for myself. Took more than 35 minutes to get my meal which ws lukewarm at best. I spoke to the owners who did nothing but whine (want some cheese with that) telling me how hard they were working with the large parties. Let me tell you what I saw – an owner who spent at least 20 minutes talking to people during this busy time. Then she spent another 5 minutes talking to someone else. I feel sorry for the staff – she just seems to get in the way. Now for my meal. when it arrived I was told the plat was hot. Forget about the fact that I saw it hit the counter and I know it spent at lest 10 minutes there. When I got the pat it was like warm. My husband was still waiting for his (something about they ran out and had to make more??? made no sense). This USE to be fun place to go with god food. No longer. I will no longer be a patron!! They will be on the next installment of Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmares!
This use to be a great restaurant. If you want to go to a place where your food is cold, wait time to be served is long and the owner blames the crowd on her inability to pay attention to details – then this is the place for you. I watched the owner chat with a friend for at least 30-45 minutes. i sw my food up on the warning tray. Seems that they screwed up my husband’s order but left my up to be served. Mine was cold. My husband did not get his and the owner had the gall to whine and say that she had a large party upstairs. Guess the small parties don’t count. Will NEVER go back!!