Casa de Yum

When I lived in Phoenix, there was an apartment complex on my street with large, black, wrought iron letters spelling "Casa de Susan." The sign invariably made me laugh. There was something incongruous about the words and the appearance. Perhaps not the best example of joining together the disparate.

I'm happy to say there's nothing incongruous about Casa Nueva in Athens, Ohio except, perhaps, the title of this blog entry. On my last day in Athens, Johnnie and I managed to squeeze in a quick lunch at Casa. Johnnie was ravenous and I just wanted to have one more experience eating there--and pictures so I could blog about the food.

Casa's website summarizes its history: "Back in the spring of 1985, a group of eight recently unemployed restaurant workers decided to form a worker-owned cooperative. The original founders had never run a business before, but collectively had over 100 years of restaurant experience and the determination to create their own livelihoods." With the help of the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, Casa Nueva was born. The restaurant features organic food grown by local farmers, and the menu is seasonal. We ate from the new Spring menu which featured broccoli and mushrooms as the featured veggie combo the first time we ate there with Catherine and Steven and chard and mushrooms when Johnnie and I ate there last week.

We began our meal with chips and salsa. Casa's chips are nutty, thick, and salty--there's something satisfying and (deceptively?) healthy tasting about the chips. Of the many (9?) different salsa on the menu, we chose the mildest, the black bean salsa. Although I usually prefer a tomato based salsa, the black bean salsa is divine with its garlicky goodness.

Johnnie ordered the Spring Grilled Cheese sandwich with habanero salsa. The sandwich looked a little dry to me, but Johnnie seemed to enjoy it.

I ordered two enchiladas a la carte. One combined cheese, chard, and mushrooms with a chipotle sauce. It was really, really spicy, so much so that my nose quickly began to run. Still, the veggies were delicious and healthy (the amount of cheese was miniscule). Nevertheless, the other enchilada was my favorite: cheese, marinated tofu, and black beans with salsa verde. This sauce was more mild which allowed the intense flavors of the tofu and black beans to take center stage.

I was very glad that I'd ordered these a la carte--the portions were much bigger than I expected and I was even able to eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day. I didn't even miss the black beans and jasmine rice that generally accompany the meals at Casa.

I love this restaurant. I love what it stands for with its business model. And I love that it takes a principled stand while serving delicious, innovative, interesting food. So, yes, Casa may serve dishes that don't look authentically Mexican, but somehow, its food works . . . and it works well.