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Review | Taqueria Sabor Mixteco showcases Oaxacan specialties in Silver Spring

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Review | Taqueria Sabor Mixteco showcases Oaxacan specialties in Silver Spring


Two of us are a few chomps into a tlayuda at the youthful Taqueria Sabor Mixteco when the chef approaches our table.

“Want to make it even more Oaxacan?” asks Juan Solano, 54. He says this with raised eyebrows and a smile. We nod and go back to eating the feast, an enormous tortilla packed with cheese, vegetables and chorizo, doubled over to form a dome above the contents and blistered from the grill.

A few moments later, the chef reappears with a ramekin of something black and mysterious and invites us to guess what’s in the little bowl.

Having visited Oaxaca before, I think I know the answer. Sure enough, Solano wants us to complete our tlayuda with fried grasshoppers, expectedly crisp and jolted with lime.

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Similar vignettes play out every time I’ve eaten at this charming storefront in Silver Spring, close to the Wheaton Metro stop and co-owned by the chef; Apolinar Cervantes, 47; and Marisol Gonzales, 52. The trio bring a lot of hospitality to the business. Solano previously cooked at the late and admired Mixtec and Enriqueta’s in Washington. Cervantes worked his way up from dishwasher to waiter at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse, where he spent 22 years, while Gonzales, a onetime hostess at a children’s party restaurant in her native Mexico City, works as a nanny when she’s not at the restaurant.

Day or night, I’ve never visited without seeing Cervantes. His quiet enthusiasm alone pulls me back. The host takes his time detailing the dishes, instructs diners which of the three housemade salsas are best for which presentations, and offers free refills of agua fresca. (One glass of tamarindo or pineapple juice with hints of peach is never enough.) The food is apportioned as if you’re eating at Madre’s house. “Any sauce you want to take?” asks the host as he bundles the inevitable leftovers. I like the mild green tomatillo and the racy red arbol salsas, but the sauce sprung from the smoky morita chile, recommended for the tlayuda, lights my fire.

The chef is from La Mixteca, one of eight regions in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, which explains the restaurant’s name and the sweetness of his mole. A sauce made primarily for celebrations, Mixteco mole is offered with sugar for guests to pass at the table, he says. At Taqueria Sabor Mixteco, the sauce is created from raisins, cinnamon and chocolate as well as almonds, oregano and dried peppers including guajillo and ancho. The inky black combination drapes the very good shredded chicken enchiladas, striped with white crema and shored up with tomato-tinted rice and (vegetarian) refried black beans redolent of the garlic and onions that “go into everything,” jokes the chef.

The chef left Washington for Mexico City in 2008 to run a taqueria for several years before returning to the States. How delicious to have him back. I appreciate whatever meat — zesty chorizo, earthy braised beef tongue, pork sweetened with pineapple — dresses his warm, saucer-size corn tortillas. The canvases — thin enough to fold, thick enough to hoist without tearing — pick up color and texture from cilantro, sliced radishes, sweet chopped onion and your salsa of choice, although a simple spritz of lime is plenty sassy.

Maybe you’re in the mood for a torta. Credit for the two-fisted pleasure goes to Gonzales, whose mother made and sold tortas and tacos to workers building Mexico City’s metro when Gonzales was a young girl. As with so much that leaves the kitchen, the taqueria excels with the sandwich. Fluffy-crumbed telera bread is sliced in half, toasted and slathered with creamy mayonnaise (on top) and black beans (on the base). A choice of filling — make mine flame-colored al pastor — plus shredded, slightly rubbery Oaxacan cheese and crisp lettuce truly elevate the slices and make for one of the best tortas I know.

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One of the biggest comforts on a menu full of them is alambre, a rib-sticking collaboration of your choice of meat, onions and poblano peppers under a blanket of melted cheese. Those who like variety should ask for the juicy duo of braised beef and chorizo — and plan for a siesta afterward.

The list of daily specials might include one of the best chiles rellenos in memory. Fluffy egg clings to the velvet-textured poblano, which oozes warm cheese when it’s cut. A light sauce of tomato, onion and garlic burnishes the pepper. The one off note across several meals: chileajo, a Oaxacan pork stew from the chef’s hometown of Tezoatlán whose occasional bites of dry meat were partially salvaged by potato chunks swollen with the flavor of fruity costeno and guajillo peppers in the mix.

Gonzales whips up the flan, dense with cream cheese and scented with Mexican vanilla. Ask for a caramel-glossed slice to go if you’ve filled up on tacos, tortas or alambres. The dessert is a sight for sleepy eyes late at night: soothing nursery food no matter your age.

Color-drenched Oaxaca is channeled in a bright orange dining room where tables are covered in oil cloth and the ceiling is dressed with papel picado, Mexican paper cutouts. A few sombreros and upbeat chilena music complete the Mexican theme.

This cooking deserves something spirited to wash it back; the owners say they’ve applied for a license to sell alcohol. For the moment, if you ask about cocktails, the trio shows off ready-to-go jicaras, the small, shell-like cups used to serve mezcal.

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The biggest problem I see? Too few diners. That might be music to the ears of people who don’t want to raise their voice at lunch or dinner but not to the owners, whose labor of love deserves to play to a larger audience. Frankly, I’d trade the quiet for some noise, even a line out the door. Hence this shout-out.

Taqueria Sabor Mixteco

2462 Ennalls Ave., Silver Spring. 240-500-3833. sabormixteco.com. Open for indoor and outdoor dining and delivery and takeout, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Prices: Dinner appetizers $3 to $14.95, tacos $3.75 to $4.95, main courses $12 to $29.75. Sound check: 69 decibels/Conversation is easy. Accessibility: No barriers to entrance; ADA-compliant restroom.



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North Dakota National Guard heading to Washington duty

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North Dakota National Guard heading to Washington duty


BISMARCK — About 60 North Dakota Army National Guard Soldiers will be sent to help the District of Columbia National Guard under a joint task force starting in April.

Most soldiers are from the 131st Military Police Battalion, which is headquartered in Bismarck, according to a release.

The support will be given as part of the effort that began on Aug. 11, when several states activated members of their National Guard to support local and federal law enforcement in Washington under the President Donald Trump’s

executive order 14333,

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which declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital.

The support is a federal mission under the command of the D.C. National Guard, which supports civilian agencies and local law enforcement to reduce crime and minimize property damage.

“Safeguarding the citizens, federal workers and elected leaders in our nation’s capital is a matter of national security, and we appreciate these Soldiers volunteering for this important mission,” said North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong in a release. “We know they will represent our state with the skill and professionalism that military leaders everywhere have come to expect from the North Dakota National Guard.”

The battalion is expected to be in Washington for about three months.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say


Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.

The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.

According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.

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Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.

A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.

Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.

The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.

Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.

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Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.

Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.

The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.



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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors


Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.

Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.

Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.

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“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”

RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions

House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.

Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.

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The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.

“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”

Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.

The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.

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