If it seems like most mid-priced Mexican restaurants are serving the same half dozen combo plates, maybe it’s time for a change. That’s what Alejandro Cuellar was thinking when he opened Balvina’s in Laguna Hills.
The former general manager of Break of Dawn, Cuellar and his business partner, Rigo Peres, took over that space in September. While Cuellar still serves some of former chef Dee Nguyen’s breakfast items, the core of the menu has been completely revamped, offering dishes that Cuellar grew up eating in Mexico.
Since mid-November he has been serving dinner, continually adding items. From posole to pipían, this menu showcases dishes from Cuellar’s Pueblan background along with wines from the Valle de Guadalupe, wine margaritas, Mexican beers, micheladas and more.
“Balvina is my mom’s name, she is my inspiration,” he said. In 1994 he came to California as a teenager. “In 1996 I started working in the restaurant industry as a dish washer and worked my way up the ladder since then as a prep, then line cook,” said the decades long veteran of the hospitality field with such companies as Black Angus, P.F.Chang’s, and the Ritz-Carlton.
“I’m the youngest of 13 siblings and the only one in the U.S. All my family lives in Mexico,” he said. Cuellar likes to keep things traditional. He’s not a big believer in fusion cuisine or putting his individual stamp on every recipe.
“I’m cooking like my ancestors, exactly like people have been cooking in Puebla for generations,” he said. His mole poblano is served with a braised Jidori airline chicken breast ($24) or in a plate of two chicken enchiladas ($20) bathed in the sauce and sided with rice and beans. Made from 26 ingredients, this mole has a gentle heat and a long finish, rich with warm spices.
Diners can also order the same chicken breast with a pipían sauce ($24) which is steeped in history. Cuellar’s mother used to make it only once a year and when he asked why she told him this story.
“Hundreds of years ago it was a very poor situation for everyone in Mexico. There was no food, so the moms had to use everything they could to put something on the table,” he said. “They collected seeds and put them in a little jar.”
Chili pepper seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds were patiently and carefully collected, then toasted and ground by hand on a volcanic stone metate, the way his mother still makes it.
“They created pipían with very few ingredients: onions, garlic, clove, cinnamon, peppers, chili seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds — that’s it, very simple,” he said.
The resulting ocher-colored sauce has been a favorite for him since childhood. But another sauce he loves to tell customers about is one made from ground, dried ants.
“There’s a famous Mexican chef, Enrique Olvera, who put it on his table and people think he created it. But it’s a natural phenomenon,” he said.
The flying ants arrive during the rainy season of May in Southern Mexico. “So, people collect them, wash them, take the wings off and roast them. The flavor has a smoky taste, like tobacco, it is really good. So, I don’t want to say I created that dish, it’s the original, the way people have eaten it in the villages in Oaxaca and Veracruz and Chiapas, for hundreds of years.”
So far the ant dish, which we tasted and enjoyed, has not made it to the printed menu, but Cuellar is continuing to add more recipes. Although some of the house specialties may sound exotic, the bulk of the dinner selections consist of Mexican and American favorites, like pork loin tacos ($18), enchiladas Suizas ($20), fajitas ($22 for New York steak or $20 for Jidori chicken), a 16-ounce ribeye ($48) and Alaskan Halibut Veracuz style ($42).
For breakfast there are eggs Benedict ($15) crispy chilaquiles ($15) and huevos rancheros ($15) — he sandwiches refried beans between two corn tortillas before topping with fried eggs, chorizo, avocado and crema fresca. Don’t hesitate to bring the kids for buttermilk pancakes ($12) or French toast ($15).
Organic coffee ($4) comes from Mexico. Cuellar knows an import guy who brings it from a region just a couple hours north of the internationally famous Huehuetenango area in the Guatemalan highlands.
It’s another bow to tradition that Cuellar strongly adheres to because he knows it leads to delicious results, as he’ll tell you with a smile. “Why would I have to change the recipes when they’re perfect?”
Balvina’s Mexican Kitchen
Find it: 24291 Avenida de la Carlota, Laguna Hills; 949-587-9418, balvinas.com.
Open: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. for breakfast and lunch daily; 5-9 p.m. for dinner Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
