My friend Steve Coleman, owner of the well-written and impeccably researched Steve’s Food Blog has become quite a culinary anthropologist.  Not only does he provide his readers with comprehensive reviews of restaurants throughout the fruited plain, he explores the genesis of the foods he writes about.  One of his passions is to define what constitutes El Paso style Mexican cuisine–its provenance and the cultural role that cuisine has played over the generations.  As he’s discovered, El Paso style Mexican style is still evolving and redefining itself.  Some of that has occurred organically as other cultures have influenced dynamic changes.  Evolution has also been forged by the rediscovery of ancient ingredients and cooking techniques, some of which may once have been traditional.

To Steve’s dismay, El Paso’s restaurant scene doesn’t seem to garner the type of adulation and respect accorded to more voguish and dynamic Texas cities such as Austin, Dallas and Houston.  It’s disconcerting to him that even when El Paso restaurants and chefs are nominated for James Beard awards, those restaurants make it no further than the semi-finals.  Steve has traveled extensively throughout Texas and is familiar with the culinary offerings at the chic, anointed cities.  In his estimation, El Paso is being overlooked, maybe even disrespected.  He’s frequently invited me to visit him in El Paso so he could introduce me to some of the foods that make the Sun City’s culinary scene formidable.  We began planning my visit when we learned that two El Paso area chefs had been nominated for the prestigious James Beard Best Chef-Texas award.

The first restaurant on our agenda  was the swanky ELEMI, described by The City Magazine as  “at the heart of the El Paso downtown renaissance.”  Steve regaled me with accounts of the area’s growth and change, a renovation that’s made the area an inviting hub of activity.  As for the restaurant’s name, ELEMI is actually a conjunction formed from a term of endearment co-owner Krista Marentes has  for her husband and the restaurant’s revered chef Emiliano.  The Marentes’ goal is to “cultivate an eatery that could bridge the gap between traditional Mexican food and modern sensibilities.”  It’s an exemplar of the type of evolution Steve and I discuss about Mexican cuisine.

I first became acquainted with ELEMI thanks to the premiere episode of Padma Lakshmi’s series “Taste the Nation,” on the Hulu streaming service. Taste the Nation is a travel and food docuseries that follows her on a journey across America to sample a diverse array of ethnic foods made by people like her, who came to this country as immigrants. Not only does Padma sample those foods, she spends time getting to know the people behind the food and the fascinating stories that made the people who they are — and the food what it is. At ELEMI, the Marentes showed Padma how to grind nixtamal into masa for homemade blue-corn tortillas. She also helped make ELEMI’s El Campesino tacos. The tacos are made with confit portobello mushrooms, grilled eggplant, avocado, queso and black beans in the blue-corn tortillas.

ELEMI was nothing like we expected.  We were escorted past the bar made with large slabs of beetle kill pine (pinewood naturally stained blue by bark beetles) which our server told us was built by the chef himself.  Obviously if he couldn’t make it as a chef, Chef Marentes would make a fantastic carpenter.  Though not the restaurant’s cynosure, one eye-catching aspect of the restaurant is a large framed portrait of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.  That portrait is fitting in that Zapata was a champion of agrarianism, a social and political philosophy that stresses the primacy of family farming.  Based on the compendium of ingredients, it’s likely Chef Marentes was inspired by Zapata.  He may not have been as inspired by Francisco “Pancho” Villa, a smaller portrait of whom also hangs on a wall.

Our server was ambassadorial and knowledgeable about the restaurant’s menu and history.  We connected immediately when he noticed the wallpaper on my iPhone screen which depicts our ginger dachshunds Tim and Callie.  Our server has dachshunds, too, as well as a Yorkie.  Quite naturally, I had to show off photos of our Lardycake, the most beautiful Yorkie ever conceived.  Even when Steve (he’ll tell you it was me) spilled a glassful of jamaica agua fresca all over the floor, our server was cheerful and quick to clean up Steve’s (er…my) mess.  The diners at our adjacent table weren’t impressed by my oafish display.

We were certainly impressed by the menu, a melange of mostly familiar ingredients employed in unusual combinations.  Steve noted the fusion of traditional (including per-Colombian) and contemporary Mexican ingredients he had not previously experienced.  To declare the menu “creative” is to undersell how inspired and innovative it is.  This is a menu perhaps unlike any other in El Paso.  Food selections rotate with seasons and availability of fresh ingredients. All tortillas for our tacos are made and cooked to order, always!  ELEMI is a restaurant I would want to explore just to make sure I didn’t miss a thing.

Eight “botanas” (appetizers) festoon the menu.  It would be easy to make an entire meal out of four or five botanas, but we limited ourselves to three so we could experience tacos.  Texas Monthlyconfirms the wisdom of our decision: “With high-quality meats and fish, vegetables grown nearby, and house-made corn tortillas, Marentes serves outstanding made-to-order tacos.”  Texas Monthly’s “Taco Editor” (where can I get a job like that?) Jose Ralat expounded further: “Like the Juárez tortillerias, Elemi uses the centuries-old practice of nixtamalization, in which corn is cooked, soaked, and ground into masa. The resulting corn tortillas are the foundation of the taco-focused restaurant, which has only eight tables inside, creating an irresistible intimacy.”

1st Visit: 2 February 2023

The first of our three botanas sports the name “Pepinos,” a term that translates from Spanish to “cucumbers.”  In actuality, there was only one cucumber, but it was sliced so impossibly thin it reminded us of a fat apple that’s been peeled into just one long slice like a ribbon.  The skill (and patience) to do that is remarkable.  The menu indicated the Pepinos botana was vegan, but with one of the ingredients being “sal de hormigas chicatanas,” Steve pondered when and why hormigas chicatanas were classified as vegan.  When we pointed it out to our server, he indicated the faux pas was caught after the menu had gone to print. Hormigas chicatanas, by the way, are a species of large flying ants considered a rare seasonal delicacy from Oaxaca.

Other ingredients used to create the Pepinos were lime, chile de arbol oil and roasted sesame seeds.  I half expected the Pepinos to resemble cucumbers in the manner used at Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.  Instead, the organic cucumber inherited the salty, smoky flavor of the “ant salt” and the lip-pursing sour qualities of the lime.  We didn’t discern much of the chile de arbol oil, but maybe that’s because we can both eat lava and not be fazed.  Because we didn’t finish the Pepinos, I took the remainder to our hotel room for Kim to enjoy. Not a fire-eater, she immediately discerned heat emanating from the chile de arbol.

We both enjoyed the Esquites (Mexican white corn, lime aioli, butter, queso cotija, chile pequin) much more.  Esquites is a term for Mexican street corn served off the cob and in a cup, whereas elotes is Mexican street corn served on the cob.  Our server told us Elemi uses only sourced corn from Mexican farms renowned for producing the best maize for corn tortillas.  The esquites looked like a bowl of sunshine and indeed, they had the same effect a ray of sunshine has on a cat perched on a window.  With just the right amount of creaminess from the butter and queso cotija paired with plenty of personality from the lime aioli and chile piquin, the esquites were a fabulous melange of ingredients and tastes that go so well together.

Our third botana was a unique take on quesabirria.  When it was delivered to our table, I thought it was  stuffed crepe.  Quesabirria, as everyone in America now knows, is a portmanteau, a compound word joining queso (cheese) and birria, the traditional Mexican stew.  Essentially quesabirria is. a beef birria taco with melted cheese, a sort of cross between a taco and a quesadilla. Typically quesabirria is served with a rich consomme.  ELEMI’s version is mde with local black trumpet mushrooms, birria style mushroom broth, quesillo and avocado fanned out.  This is wholly unlike any quesabirria either of us had ever experienced.  In so many ways, it may have been better, especially if (like me) you’re a mycophile.

Our server told us the most popular of the seven tacos on the menu is the Campechano (suadero, chorizo verde, chicharron, pico de gallo).  If you’re not acquainted with suadero, it’s confit native American beef as tender as my Kim’s heart.   The suadero was moist and flavorful, inheriting porcine qualities from the chorizon and chicharron (ground up into a crispy topping similar to a crunchy streussel).  The pico de gallo had a piquant personality but not so much that it didn’t allow other ingredients to shine.  Chef Marentes’ reputation for blue corn tortillas non-pariel is well earned.  The nixtamalized blue corn tortillas were superb, the perfect canvas for tacos that also earn accolades.

As is usually the case when visiting a new restaurant, my eyes train on dishes I haven’t previously experienced.  The Conejito Pibil (achiote-citrus marinated rabbit, salsa xni pec, pickled red onions) jumped out at me.  It’s been years since I’ve had rabbit, a protein some people won’t touch because bunnies are so cute.  Rabbit has, in fact, been a very popular protein since pre-Colombian times..and it does not taste like chicken!  As with the saudero, the conejito is absolutely tender with no hint of gaminess.  Only enough red onions were presented to give the rabbit a contrasting flavor profile, but the star ingredient was the rabbit.  Don’t hate me because I love rabbit.  Try this taco and you might forget how cute bunnies are.

2nd Visit: 8 March 2025

It’s amazing just how much can transpire a scant two years after an inaugural visit.  During those two years between visits, ELEMI relocated from its downtown location where Steve and I first visited to a new home on Eastlake Boulevard.  That new home is on the eastern outskirts of the sprawling city, about fifteen miles from its first home.  As with ELEMI’s first home, the space isn’t especially expansive.  Reservations are no longer required but it’s advisable to arrive early to ensure you’re seated comfortably.  ELEMI does require that the full party must be available in order to be seated.  Our full party not only included my Kim and our debonair dachshund The Dude (he’s a service pet), but our “other Steve” friend Stephen Jones who composes some of the most beautiful Christian music you’ll ever listen to.

In the two years between visits, Chef Marantes was a James Beard Foundation “Best Chef – Southwest” finalist twice–in 2022 (after our visit) and in 2023.  As of this writing he is a three-time semifinalist with finalists yet to be determined.  Perhaps as significant (especially if you’re a Texan) is that in its “50 Best Tacos in Texas” feature, Texas Monthly Magazine declared ELEMI home to the second best tacos in Texas.  Considering, the Magazine’s “Taco Editor” Jose Ralat visited some 1,200 taquerias over a distance of 14,000 miles, that’s a formidable accomplishment.  Ralat indicated “If El Paso is the epicenter of New Tejano cuisine (and it is), Elemi is New Tejano’s beating heart.”

Though much of the menu was familiar, ELEMI expanded the number of botanas and tacos as well as adding a “platos fuertes” (main courses) section to the menu.  Among the new botanas is Oaxamole (chile pasilla mixe, pepitas, chapulines, tostadas).  Served in a molcajete (a traditional Mexican tool for grinding spices, chiles, seeds and nuts) mountainous enough for our entire party, it’s a thing of beauty though I did fear that no one in our party would even sample the gargantuan guacamole dish on account of the chapulines.  Chapulines, as you might recall from Spanish 101, are grasshoppers.

As the website Chapulines explains, “Chapulines are not only culturally significant but also offer impressive nutritional benefits. They are high in protein, with some studies suggesting that grasshoppers contain between 50% to 75% protein, significantly higher than traditional protein sources like lean beef. Additionally, chapulines are rich in healthy fats, fiber, and essential minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium.”  Not only that, chapulines are delicious as my intrepid friends and spouse discovered.  I had feared trying to consume the entire guacamle mountain by myself, but my fellow foodies merrily joined in.  There was consensus that the chapulines added textural and deliciousness elements.  My Kim found it too piquant, but bravely tried the gourmet grasshoppers and didn’t declare them “icky.”

Because of my Kim’s sensitivity to piquant foods, our server pointed out “safe” foods for her to order.  Among them are the papitas fundidas (roasted baby potatoes, quesito fondue, local full circle mushrooms, chorizo, avocado salsa).  We’ve had a few thousand portions of queso fundido over the years.  This botana is a highly elevated version of the fabulous Mexican cheese dip (which, by the way, is at least a thousand times better than con queso).  A layer of bubbling molten queso blankets the amalgam.  Salty and stringy, the queso infiltrates every element of this composition, elevating the papas and melding with the mushrooms to bring a bit of joy with every bite.

In 2011, Slate Magazine declared Brussels sprouts “to be universally loathed, practically: They make it to the top five in surveys of the most-hated vegetables around the world.”  Subsequent years have not been kind to the humble vegetable some call “Satan’s gumdrop” or worst.  The internet is replete with articles purporting to help make Brussels sprouts taste and smell better.   Some of those techniques mask the inherent bitterness of the hated vegetable, essentially changing its flavor profile to be more agreeable.  Usually the most tried and trusted way is caramelization, making them sweeter.

ELEMI’s Brusellas (Brussels sprouts, salsa macha, goat cheese crema, balsamic-agave) doesn’t necessarily obfuscate those elements that make Brussels sprouts so universally disagreeable.  Instead, ELEMI lends complementary elements that bring flavors to light.  The salsa macha lends a pleasant piquancy; the goat cheese crema a salty tartness; and the balsamic-agave a sweet-tangy lightness.  These are the Brussels sprouts you only thought you hated.

Among the platos fuertes are flautas costillas de res (slow grilled beef short rib, salsa de jitomate crema, avocado salsa, greens, radish, red onion, queso fresco).  Solely through its name, few of us could discern just what this dish would be.  Is it a plate of flautas stuffed with beef short ribs?  Is it beef short ribs served with a side of flautas?   And what exactly is “jitomate?”   Let me answer the easy one first.  According to Gastronomia Vasca, “Jitomates, wrongly called tomatoes, are fruits that originate from Mexico. They have a red, smooth and shiny skin, juicy pulp and yellow flat seeds.”

As to the construction of this dish, it’s a delicious contradiction within an enigmatic plate of flavors that go very well together.  While “flautas” (literally little flutes) are usually rolled and deep-fried corn tortillas stuffed witha protein, ELEMI’s flautas are somewhat larger and not nearly as fried.  They’re stuffed with the beef short ribs and enrobed with a luscious tomatoey salsa.  Queso fresco and radishes are sprinkled liberally atop the flautas.   There’s a pleasant piquancy to the salsa de jitamate crema, but you’d probably not describe this dish as “hot.”  It is, however, deeply flavorful.  Despite appearances, the jitamote doesn’t mirror the tomato for its acidity.  It’s somewhat sweet and would probably go very well with your favorite pasta, but this is a Mexican element not an Italian one.

Recognizing the size of the platos fuertes, Steve and I decided to share the enmolada (24-hour brined roasted chicken, mole coloradito, black bean refritos, crema).  We both love mole, a term derived from the Nahuatl mōlli, meaning “sauce.”As Texas Monthly’s “Taco Editor” Jose Ralat explains “mole is not just a sauce. It is the entire main dish.” Further, he praises it as ” one of the most sought-after and beloved Mexican dishes. It’s considered one of the best expressions of traditional Mexican gastronomy, if not its pinnacle.”  He stresses that “Contrary to popular belief, most preparations of the classic dish don’t include chocolate.”   Indeed, it’s one of the most diverse–and delicious–dishes you can have.

ELEMI’s enmolada showcases mole coloradito, a variant of mole colorado.  This mole usually includes the usual mole melange of chiles, nuts, seeds, spices and sometimes chocolate.  This slightly-sweet sauce is more subtle than mole negro and less spicy than mole rojo.  Most of the large plate in which the enmolada is served at ELEMI is a quarter-inch deep in mole.  For Steve and I, that’s a blessing.  The roasted chicken is nestled in soft corn tortillas.  Neither its brined nor roasted flavors of the chicken are lost within so much mole.  Instead, they’re brought to life.  This is an invigorating dish showcasing Oaxaca quality mole.

Only three desserts adorn the menu.  First is the arroz con leche Mexica (spiced coconut milk-chia pudding, pineapple-piloncillo, seasonal fruits, praline pecans, roasted coconut flakes).  Had I worn my reading glasses and studied the composition of this dessert, it’s the one I would have ordered.  Thankfully Stephen is smarter than I am and he’s a generous guy who shared some of his bounty with the rest of us.  Stephen described the arroz con leche Mexica as “horchata on a plate.”   Indeed, it had several elements in common with horchata though very few with traditional Mexican arroz con leche.  Those of us who love berries, candied pecans, roasted coconut flakes and delicious surprises will love every bite of this delectable dessert.

Not that the chocolate tamale is any consolation prize.  This tamale wasn’t wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves.  Instead, it is presented as a dark chocolate cake resembling a brownie topped with a single scoop of ice cream and a raspberry.  It was a good dessert, but 20/20 hindsight tells me the arroz con leche would have been fabulous.  That’s how I felt in 2023.  Two years later, I advised my Kim to order this terrific tamale.  She loved it, maybe especially the banana ice cream.

ELEMI is a small restaurant with huge flavors and a festive atmosphere.  Should you find yourself in El Paso and you want to experience something a little different, a little superior to your favorite Mexican joint, let a James Beard best-chef nominee feed you.

ELEMI
13500 Eastlake Blvd
El Paso, Texas
(915) 532-2090
Website | Facebook Page
MOST RECENT VISIT: 8 March 2025
1ST VISIT: 25 February 2023
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 26
COST: $$$ – $$$$
BEST BET: Pepinos, Esquites, Quesabirria, Campechano Taco, Conejito Pibil, Chocolate Tamale, Enmolada, Arroz Con Leche Mexica, Flautas Costillas de Res, Papitas Fundidas, Brusellas, Oaxamole
REVIEW #1322