After two decades of working for French, Italian and Cuban restaurants, Jaime Luna has finally opened the Mexican restaurant he's always wanted.
Luna, most recently executive chef at Babalu Grill downtown, houses his Mari Luna Mexican Grill in a bright yellow concrete building on Reisterstown Road. The interior, painted in robust blues, reds and yellows, exudes a casual warmth, complemented by tile floors and a bright Mexican blanket hanging from one wall.
Even the outside seating area, a more casual space with a ceiling and floor but linoleum tables and plastic sheeting for walls, manages to charm, despite the sounds of traffic and a less-than-scenic view of the Rite Aid across the street.
The restaurant, open since early summer, has already attracted a steady following. Even on a weeknight, the place was crowded, and several customers, clearly regulars, bantered comfortably with servers. Many families arrived with youngsters, and the servers seemed particularly attuned to their needs, bringing the food quickly and making sure the guacamole didn't touch the quesadillas - a serious sin to most kids.
In addition to the expected burritos, tacos and enchiladas, Mari Luna serves a roster of more complex entrees, including pollo en mole, chicken in mole sauce; cordero jalisco, lamb shanks in a chili sauce; and salmon veracruza, flavored with chili, lime and garlic.
Everything I tried was as lively and inviting as the setting. Starting with the salsa, and continuing to a rich chocolate layer cake for dessert, this was food we couldn't stop nibbling, even after we were full.
The guacamole, served as a side with several entrees, was both citrusy and savory, with a generous measure of lime and chunks of tomatoes and onions. It was best when scooped up by the crunchy, only slightly salty tortilla chips that were placed on our table. For a pretty presentation, Luna makes them from red, green, purple and yellow tortillas.
The meats, heavily marinated and then grilled, were particularly good. The salty, robustly flavored strips of steak for our fajita were so tender we could cut them with a fork, even though they were cooked medium well as requested. The steak arrived with tortillas, salsa, rice and beans - no onions and peppers, no "sizzling platter" as found in so many chain restaurants - for us to assemble our own fajitas. Mostly, we just ate the steak, then poured the creamy, meaty beans over the highly flavored rice and gobbled that too.
