Agave’s new menu serves homemade, authentic Hacienda cuisine
16 Oct 2016
Polishing a Hidden Gem
BY KATE JONUSKA | PHOTOS BY PHIL MUMFORD Amid cooks chopping garlic, peeling tomatillos and roasting aromatic chiles, there’s no space for mixes, cans or prefrozen foods in the kitchen of Agave Mexican Bistro & Tequila House. According to owner Rene Cervantes, the guiding philosophy of the family-owned and -operated restaurant has no room for compromise when it comes to quality. “Everything is from scratch,” says Cervantes, whose family has operated Mexican restaurants for almost 30 years, including 12 years at their current location tucked near 28th Street and Valmont Road. “Everything is as fresh as you can put together, and that’s very labor intensive. We have a lot of people in the kitchen.”
Off the Charts
For diners more familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine, the gourmet flavors of these new specials will impress. Take, for example, the Mazatlán inspired Chilean Sea Bass Saradiado ($30), which is marinated, cooked over an open flame, and topped with pico de gallo and mustard aioli. It will make you feel like you’re dining in a hacienda beside the ocean where the fish was caught and the fields where the accompanying veggies were harvested. Mazatlán, famous for fresh seafood, also inspired Agave’s new raw bar, offering several types of ceviche, including shrimp and octopus. Cocktails and beers from the Mazatlán region are available for pairing, and for the first time, Agave will also carry both Mexican and local beers on tap. Craveable vegetarian dishes were also a goal on the new menu, where two of the molcajetes are now meat-free: the Queso and Chile ($22, with four different peppers) and Del Campo ($20, with squash, corn and mushrooms). Like all molcajetes, they’re served with cactus, Mexican cheese, tomatillo and ranchero sauces, and tortillas. Meat eaters needn’t fear, though, since Agave will never take away favorites like Pollo en Mole ($22, with whole Cornish game hen), pulledpork carnitas ($20), or Tampiqueña ($30, a sirloin steak with chickenmole enchilada, corn on the cob and fried poblano peppers). “Our goal is to give people something off the charts, and I think we’ve accomplished that,” Cervantes says. “I want people to feel that they are somewhere in Boulder but away from Boulder, that they can come here and play and enjoy the atmosphere.”Skeleton-themed Bar
Along with the new menu, changes have been made to that atmosphere, too. Agave’s main dining room has been remodeled. Tile floors and spacious booths surround an atrium with tables and an adobe fireplace that reaches floor to ceiling. Just this year, the upstairs balcony became its own entity, Calaca, which serves a unique drinks menu, happy-hour specials and a bare-bones menu—fitting, since Calaca means “skeleton” and the bar has a Día de los Muertos theme.
Kate Jonuska is a freelance writer with a passion for food, fiction and storytelling. Follow her online at @katejonuska or www.katejonuska.com.
