photo Joan Wilder for Boston Globe
IN THE KITCHEN
Head chef Donley Liburd runs Temazcal Tequila Cantina’s large Dedham kitchen with help from corporate executive chef Sean McDonald. Liburd is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and joined the cantina after years at Boston’s Cask ‘n Flagon and Legal Harborside. The restaurant is owned by one of the city’s largest restaurant developers, the Cronin Group, which operates 12 Boston-area eateries, including four Tony C’s Sports Bar & Grills.
THE LOCALE
Legacy Place has been popular right from the start, and it’s only getting better. In December, Temazcal Tequila Cantina opened where the former Wicked restaurant used to be, and a month earlier the wonderful Caffe Nero popped up, too. With the opening last year of that nearly extinct meeting place — a real live bookstore (Amazon though it is) — this intentional village has become the entertainment destination it was designed to be, not just a shopping mall. The original Temazcal Tequila Cantina opened in Boston’s Seaport, followed by outposts in Lynnfield and Burlington. The design of the 200-seat restaurant at Legacy Place is a more-is-more mix of big elements that results in an embracing yet distinctly 21st-century corporate interior. The walls are covered in reclaimed wood, round logs, patterned wallpaper, mirrors, and TVs. A big, square bar made of gorgeous walnut dominates a space filled with wagon-wheel chandeliers, vertical light boxes, studded leather chairs, sharply angled copper arc lights, zebra wood tabletops, and tapestry-covered banquets. Best of all is a sheltered outdoor dining room, with heat lamps embedded in its ceiling, that will be a fun place to hang out even on rainy days, as soon as it gets warm.
Chicken tortilla soup
ON THE MENU
A 30-minute wait on a Saturday afternoon in January was a surprise, and the chicken tortilla soup ($7) turns out to be a good starter. The thick broth is filled with dark and light meat, and the small earthenware bowl is sided with toppings that include portions of ripe avocado and fresh queso. The antojitos platter ($12) appetizer is next, giving us a sampling of the fare: We like the chicken taquito with its light crispy fried shell encasing a good portion of — again — tasty chicken. The platter’s shrimp chile relleno is a funny-looking little bite of bacon wrapped around a nicely cooked large shrimp, and the carne empanada, a satisfying calzone-like meat pocket with a cakey dough. The fish taco ($15) comes two to an order with rice and great black beans. Our good-sized hunks of “seasonal” grilled fish (cod or scrod) are topped with pickled cabbage, sliced radish, and an aioli that cries out for more flavor! On another visit, we like the grilled salmon tacos ($15) much more. They come wrapped in Bibb lettuce and are piled high with grated jicama and a couple fresh pineapple spears. The fish is a bit sweet with an orange agave salsa, and the dish comes with rice and black beans. The chicken enchiladas ($16) are crispier than we expected and tasty (again, someone in the kitchen knows how to make good chicken), and are sided with rice and pickled cabbage. The salmon Puebla style ($22) has two good sides: a delicious kale and pepper sauté and quinoa studded with hunks of apple and celery. Among the cantina’s several salads, we made a good choice in the Veracruzana grain salad ($14), packed as it is with kale, chewy wild rice, quinoa, pomegranate seeds, black beans, and more. Protein add-ons (shrimp, chicken, steak, salmon) are available and would be great with this salad. We haven’t sampled any of the cantina’s 250 tequilas yet, or its desserts. But there is that patio, and summer’s coming.
Temazcal Tequila Cantina, 600 Legacy Place, Dedham, 781-355-6900, www.temazcalcantina.com.
