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Shooting the Breeze
No ill wind blows in new downtown eatery
El Niño,
245 Crown Street, New Haven
(203-772-7977). Open (lunch) 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekdays; (dinner) 5-9 p.m. Sun-Thurs; 5-midnight Fri-Sat.
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Business New Haven
3/9/1998
By: Angelina Anderman
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New Haven is a Mecca for ethnic food. It is one of the many qualities of the Elm City that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. Therefore, we waited with interest for the opening of the rather topically named El Niño on Crown Street just behind the permanently “closed for renovation” Barkies.
The compact space, formerly home to China Hut, now houses this Cuban/South American/nuevo Latino/Caribbean eatery. Nominally owned by that elusive phantom Don Felipe, El Niño is the brainchild of a New Jersey businessman whose real name is the somewhat more prosaic Ira. However, in New Haven (its second location) it is the baby of our own Egil Valentin, who hails originally from Puerto Rico where he learned to cook in the island's finest restaurants, before continuing his culinary education right here.
Egil believes in small, interesting menus (we concur). Besides the regular menu El Niño adds a few daily specials to supplement the offerings. We started with a bowl of Sopa do Brasil, a delicious mixture of black beans, sautéed pork loin and bacon ($3.95) and an order of tostones - fried, sliced, smashed plantains with a sweet guava dip ($3.50) to share.
Ordered as a starter, the sopa turned out to be a full meal. “Order something else when you have finished,” our patient waiter cautioned. He was right; nothing further was needed. Valentin makes a different soup each day, but there is always standard black bean with sour cream ($3.75) on the menu.
Other possibilities include a serious sounding ceviche - shrimp marinated in lemon, lime, cilantro, chives with salsa ($5.95) - empanadas ($3.50) or papa rellena - fried potato balls with meat centers served with pico de gallo ($3.95). We wanted this last one, but alas -none were left.
The menu offers four salads (three of them main courses), four sandwiches and four platters. We chose one item from the sandwiches and one from the platters. The pan con lechon - roasted pork, sautéed red onions and garlic mojo ($5.95) - was somewhat dry and not very satisfying. It could be that the bread Valentin buys is not conducive to Latino-style sandwiches, but something needs to be improved in this area. Sweet potato fries can be added to sandwiches for $1.75.
The traditional Arroz con Pollo was our choice from the platters ($7.95). Served with tostones, the rice was tasty but the chicken was a little dry and the dish needed some spicing up. The other chicken dish was pollo borracho, in which the fowl is marinated in white wine and beer with potatoes, peppers, onions and capers ($8.50). It would probably have been a better choice. Shrimp sudado, also in white wine, peppers, tomato and capers with rice ($9.95), sounded promising.
El Niño has a good selection of cervezas - beers from Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Brazil - starting at $3.50, as well as some excellent Chilean wines which, besides being good quality and value, are coming out with some exciting new labels this year. Wine starts at $3.50 a glass. We enjoyed a large tumbler of Sangria ($4.50), and could have tried a Margarita, daiquiri or mango colada had we been willing to shoot the afternoon. Safe sodas are $1.25. Regular El Niño coffee, hot and strong, is $1.25 but there are several other coffee choices identified by flavor and strength.
It sounds as if we didn't have a great lunch, but we really did enjoy ourselves. El Niño is fun, and as it has been open only about a month, it deserves time to refine its kitchen technique and menu. The funky room, which accommodates only about 45 diners, has a cheerful, friendly atmosphere and the walls display the colorful, primitive-style works of Puerto Rican artist Carrie Schenk Haberstock. With its convenient downtown location, we intend to make El Niño a repeat lunch venue.
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