Two years into their Mexican food adventure, Xico, mezcal maven Liz Davis and complexity-loving chef Kelly Myers are still pounding out fresh ideas, 15 spices at a time.

Up next at Division Street’s house of chile madness: going the distance on carne asada, the marinated, grilled meat typically found in tacos or burritos. Starting Thursday, Oct. 16, the kitchen will grill up some well-regarded Niman Ranch beef to pair with two kinds of fresh salsa, chiles gueros toreados (smoked blond chiles), mashed-to-order guacamole, and the kitchen’s corn-ground tortillas. Davis says the dish will join the menu’s regular rotation. 

On Nov. 1, watch for another intrigue: a trio of hardcore molé flights that showcase Mexico’s crowning achievement. True regional molés (intricate spice mixtures laboriously ground into mysteriously delicious sauces) are rarely found in American. In Mexico, each ingredient is treated differently, grilled, smoked, crushed, toasted, and/or roasted, then finally blended.

Xico’s changing options will arrive on hot tortillas; $12 for three, easily shared by friends. The first wave will include the familiar molé negro, an almost black paste famously seasoned with unsweetened chocolate, and the less familiar molé verde, a green Puebla paste deep in twenty or so ingredients, from pumpkin seeds to lettuce. But I’m coming for my first taste of molé rosa, Mexico’s contemporary leap into the world of white chocolate, beets and rose petals.  Someone was bound to do it, and some restaurants were destined to serve it. 

Xico
3715 SE Division St
503-548-6343
Sun-Thurs: 5-10 pm;
Fri-Sat: 5-11pm