Author: Margaret Morgan, Shore Region Food Examiner
Date: May 10, 2010
Branches’ Executive Chef, Jaime Fierros, prepared an outstanding array of dishes to pair with inocente Platinum Tequila cocktails. The cocktail hour was a festive and colorful presentation of cactus salad, home-made chips with three salsas of varying heat, sweet potato tamale with Bobby Flay’s New Mexican rubbed pork tenderloin, guacamole and a refried bean hummus ~ all served in colorful Mexican pottery. Tequila cocktails were light and infused with fruit flavors.
The Metropolis cocktail, made with inocente, white cranberry juice and Rose’s Lime Juice garnished with frozen cranberries was the hit drink of the evening. It was paired with a tequila and lime-marinated shrimp and scallop gazpacho strikingly served in a martini glass.
Chef Fierros’ watermelon and jicama salad was artfully arranged in a huge serpentine taco. The char-grilled beef skirt steak entree was gently rubbed with a blend of ginger and cilantro and the piece de resistance was the avocado-lime cheesecake topped with a Mexican vanilla scented sabayon and a chocolate nacho juxtaposed on the slice of cheesecake. The presentation of each course was an awesome exhibition of artistry by Chef Fierros and his staff.
The centerpiece on each table was the beautiful blue hand-blown glass inocente bottle serving as a vase for a dramatic tall-stemmed lily.
To view the slideshow for a wonderful – and mouthwatering – visual presentation, click here.
-Thank you for the wonderful review Margaret! Sincerely, all of us at Branches!
