When Yesenia Chavez and her family were creating the menu for Leña, their first restaurant, they decided not to feature tacos as entrées. Chavez told me they wanted to make Mexican dishes that aren’t routinely served. “Both of my parents have a passion for food,” Chavez said. “You see the love and the time and dedication that goes into making a plate that takes hours to make.”
Beyond tacos, burritos and enchiladas, the cooks in Leña’s kitchen are making mole, Cornish game hen and grilled lobster. Many of her parents’ recipes are featured on the menu with additional ones from her brother-in-law, head chef; her brother, sous chef; and Chavez herself. While her parents are from a small town in Guanajuato, the food doesn’t represent one particular region. Chavez has traveled across Mexico. She brought the best-tasting dishes back with her. “It’s just a blend of experiences that we’ve had with what we grew up with,” she said.
Leña also has a mission to change the perception that Mexican food equals fast food. “Hearing people speak about it, there’s a misconception that it’s cheap and easy to make,” Chavez said. “And that’s totally not the case.” Her parents’ recipes are the point of departure for authentic flavors. “But we wanted to put more of a modern elevated twist to it,” she added.
I spoke with Chavez after eating dinner at Leña without knowing that the tacos were meant to be appetizers. The menu is large, long and full of options. I scanned the “Platos Fuertes” section, which included pork shank, ribs and “colossal” shrimp, but succumbed to my particular fondness for tacos. From the list of seven choices—under the headline “Las Siete Maravillas Del Taco”—I ordered three.
My halibut al dorado ($6) was the best fish taco I’ve had this year. The fish was beer-battered and served with chipotle mayo, cabbage, pico de gallo and an aguacate salsa. They’re described as “mini,” but they’re really street-sized. The kitchen smartly makes the protein the star of the plate and gets the supplemental proportions right. Salsas, herbs, radishes and onions are added as enhancements.
As Chavez noted, tacos can be built with practically any ingredient. To narrow down the taco choices to only seven, they started with her father’s signature dishes, carnitas and birria. “And then we’re doing our style of carne asada,” she said. “We’re using a 14-ounce ribeye.” Diners can order all seven tacos for $32. Chavez said, “It’s the best way to introduce yourself to the flavors that we’ve got going on in the rest of the menu.”
Another taco maravilla that’s popular in Mexico is lengua, or beef tongue. “We were very iffy about that one because when people see or hear ‘beef tongue’ some people are turned away,” Chavez said. “In our household, you can’t go wrong with a taco de lengua.” She described it as a super-tender meat that pairs well with their salsa verde. She added, “We wanted to keep that as well so people can explore it and see it in a different light.”
The tortillas were delicious and tasted like they were freshly made. “We use masa from La Finca Tortilleria in Oakland,” Chavez said. “All of our vendors are smaller. Most of them are family-owned businesses because that’s the only way that we survive, right? Supporting each other.”
In addition to tacos, we tried the poblano enmolado ($22), which comes with tortillas and two sides—guacamole and beans in our case. The sauce was sumptuous, velvety maroon and it made me want to try Leña’s other sauces. We also tried the oxtail and short rib birria, pork belly smothered in salsa verde, and a whole branzino marinated in achiote, garlic and citrus.
Leña’s chile verde keeps the essential flavors of her mother’s recipe intact, but she decided to make it with strips of pork belly. The Cornish game hen is also served in a mole sauce. “It’s the same flavor, the same authenticity that we grew up with, but it looks a lot nicer,” Chavez said.
Customers have told her, “This is so different from what we’re used to seeing at Mexican restaurants,” particularly on that part of the island.
Leña, 2431 Central Ave., Alameda. Open Tue-Sun for dinner and weekends for brunch. IG: @lena.alameda.
