Review: At Maizal Mexican Kitchen, savoring Oaxacan family cooking
With moles and groceries, Rosario clan has strengthened Mexican cuisine and culture in Western New York
After decades of traveling from Oaxaca to work in the farms of Niagara County, the Rosario family decided to put down roots in Medina. The region’s eaters have since benefited from their decision, and their knack for business.
Six Rosario brothers and a sister have expanded the reach of their culture and cuisine in their chosen home, starting with Tienda Monte Alban, a Mexican grocery store in Medina. Then Mariachi de Oro restaurant nearby in 2011.
Last year, Nancy Rosario opened La Oaxaqueña taqueria in the same Batavia plaza as Monte Albán II, a second grocery operated by the family.
At Maizal Mexican Kitchen and Mezcaleria in East Amherst, launched in 2020 by Leonel Rosario and his family, their Oaxacan culture comes to the fore. Mezcal, tequila’s smoky cousin, is mostly produced in Oaxaca. The Maizal bar boasts a library of more than 400 varieties of the agave-derived spirits.
Moles, the delicate Mexican simmer sauces, are a strength of the Maizal menu, like the mole negro saucing chicken in Oaxacan tamales, steamed in banana leaves. Its intense complexity comes from several types of dried chiles, fruit, vegetables, bread, and a dozen herbs and spices, cooked down into an inky, velvety gravy.
Exploring the menu’s Oaxacan touches can start with appetizers like the tlayuda ($27.95), a crispy corn wafer the size of a small pizza dressed with beans, steak, dried beef, chorizo sausage, sliced avocado, and shreds of fresh Oaxacan cheese.Â
While honoring his Oaxacan roots, Rosario isn’t bound by tradition. Birria, beef stewed in chiles, gets packed into egg rolls with cheese, fried, and served with a dipping dish of stew broth ($9.95). The queso fundido ($12.95) arrives topped with a lid of cheese griddled to a golden brown. Underneath, amid melted cheese that stretches to arm’s length, is chorizo, grilled mushrooms, and roasted poblano chiles.
Memelitas are Oaxacan street snacks of corn masa pattied griddled, gilded with carnitas fat, and topped with salsa verde, onion, and queso fresco ($9.95). Tamales Oaxaqueno ($19.95) are steamed in banana leaves that contribute vegetal aroma to the filling of corn dough and shredded chicken in mole negro.Â
Verde, green mole, is the other mole on the standard Maizal menu. It’s made of chiles, green herbs, and pumpkinseeds, among other things, and is served with grilled mahi, salad, rice, and tortillas ($19.95).
For all its satisfactions, there are signs that Maizal may have more culinary discoveries to offer.
At a Day of the Dead dinner last year, Rosario delivered a mole tour de force: seven moles, presented with appropriate accompaniments. Amarillo, verde, coloradito, manchamanteles, rojo, chichillo, negro - each distinct characters, sharing chile foundations but leaning by turn towards earthiness, greenery, or the resinous sweetness of dried fruit.
Following the meal, Rosario found the energy to perform a six-round Oaxacan folk dance with his wife Dolores Alvarado.Â
Getting to glimpse the depth of mole possibilities made me hopeful that these rare birds will be sighted in East Amherst more often. Their complexity and patient preparation makes most of those sauces beyond the reach of day-to-day kitchen operations.
On the upside, they have given this Western New Yorker a new tradition: waiting for the Day of the Dead, in the hopes of being reunited with siete moles once again.
Maizal Mexican Kitchen and Mescaleria
4840 N. French Road, East Amherst, maizalmexicankitchen.com, 716-428-5683
Hours: 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.
Parking: lot
Wheelchair accessible: yes
Gluten-free: tacos, sopes, salads
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