1 of 6
Margarita made with fresh- queezed juice, housemade sweet-and-sour mix and Los Amentes tequila
2 of 6
Burrito Mojado
3 of 6
The Bandeja Montanero
4 of 6
Interior of Mijas Mexican Kitchen & Cantina
5 of 6
Chorizo mac and cheese balls
6 of 6
Su Abuela Sancocho
Remember this name: Carlos Londono.
How has this talented chef, who recently opened Mijas Mexican Kitchen & Cantina, his third restaurant in the city, managed to remain an unknown for so long? In part it speaks to his reluctance to put himself front and center. In part it speaks to just how buzzy the local food scene has become, that only chefs with pedigrees and eyes that look beyond Richmond are drawing attention.
As TV chef Mike Isabella opened Graffiato, as Brittanny Anderson earned a James Beard Award nomination and opened Brenner Pass, as local purveyors and mixologists and craft brewers have gained national attention, Londono is slowly building a small empire in Shockoe.
It began with Margarita Cantina in 2010, followed by Luncheonette just four years later. Mijas Mexican Kitchen & Cantina completes a triumvirate — though it is unlikely that the chef will ultimately limit himself to just three.
Londono long dreamed of operating a cantina among the cobblestone streets of Shockoe Slip; for years, however, his real estate agent told him he was being overly ambitious, given the established nature of the area. Still, I can feel his excitement when Londono tells me the story of the day he happened upon the former La Grotta space, which was for sale at the time. He decided right then to pounce, selling his Queens restaurant of 22 years, Iguana’s Mexican Grill and Cantina, and moving south with his family.
“Mijas,”— Spanish for “my daughters” — opened this past February. Don’t let the word “Mexican” right next to it in the name fool you: Though the menu is solid with dishes from just south of the border, Londono’s Colombian heritage is what shines through. These are the dishes he would have you try if you were to wander into his kitchen — dishes rich in flavor, and that sing of love and family.
The Bandeja Montanero, consisting of (you might want to pull up a chair) fried pork chorizo, chicharrón, grilled steak, rice, red beans, plantains, an arepa, a fried egg and half an avocado — is among the most recognized dishes out of Colombia. It’s fit for a famished farmer, or, alternatively, for a family to share, where the $20 price tag amounts to a steal. Each part of this gargantuan spread is cooked with care.
The Su Abuela Sancocho is a stew for which, as the name implies, every grandmother in South America has her own recipe. Londono’s draws its flavor from a hearty mix of beef, chicken and pork layered with onions, potatoes, corn, peppers and plantains, touched with garlic and cumin. For those new to the culture and cuisine, the dish will seem like the perfect hangover cure. For Londono’s core audience, it is likely to give rise to nostalgia.
There are novelties here, too, like chorizo mac and cheese balls, not to mention a slew of Mexican preparations that allow the chef to please hidebound diners who are reluctant to try a cuisine they might never before have encountered. If you only wish to dip your toe into unfamiliar waters, or if the prospect of a buffet on a plate sounds too daunting, then consider one of Londono’s empanadas. Three simple ingredients — pulled chicken, homemade chihuahua cheese, flour — and yet the chef brings them to a level that makes me doubt I could achieve the same at home with more. Sublime.
Londono has transformed what Richmond knew only as an Italian institution. Walking down the stone steps, there’s now a feel of entering an ancient Mayan cave, anchored around the large, brand-new bar area.
He has made cocktails an essential part of the experience, and they’re generally fresh and inspiring, made with fresh-squeezed juices and a sweet-and-sour mix made in-house. The smokiness from Los Amentes tequila built the foundation for an unexpectedly smooth margarita, making me long for sand at my feet and a sunset view.
Mijas is a different restaurant at lunch, given that it has to serve a downtown business and hotel crowd. When I drop in early one day, I quickly learn that happy hour begins daily at 11, and that there is a special menu of snacks (with some priced as low as $2). Yucca fries come quickly — flash-fried and hot, in a hearty portion that would not have been out of place at dinner, accompanied by housemade crema, another example of Londono’s talent in bringing simple ingredients to life.
Every order, I learn, comes out just as fast and hot as the one before, which is no small thing at lunchtime. Another nice thing to count on is the choice of soup that comes with each order. I will make your life easy: Skip the black bean; the one you want is the tortilla soup, richly flavored, tangy with red peppers, brimming with tender chunks of chicken, and possessing a wonderful crunch courtesy of the titular ingredient.
The Dos Equis-battered fish tacos were too close to frozen fish sticks, but the burrito mojado, smothered in a housemade white queso as creamy as it is sharp, almost made me forget them.
If you happen to have room after a meal here — um, good luck with that — then the dessert to splurge on is the chocolate pot de crème, which offers a nice and unexpected hit of saltiness to make all that rich decadence seem somehow lighter.
Londono says his adjustment to life in Richmond has actually been little adjustment at all. He’s surprised and pleased to find that Richmonders are such “foodies,” more willing to branch away from familiar-sounding menu items than his diners in Queens. Here’s hoping that the open-minded diners of this city continue to inspire him to cook the foods of his native land, and that this deeper engagement with his tradition will spawn new ideas for restaurant No. 4 and beyond.
Oh, and one more hope: that the trendy food scene will welcome and embrace the arrival of another exciting talent.
