holy mole!

Finally, finally, finally - we went to the legendary Red Iguana.  Was it good?  Oh, it was good.  But first:

Since it was a grey sort of day on Saturday, and we were planning to ski on Sunday (not that that materialized either because it was a grey sort of morning Sunday morning and, what with no great snowfalls of late, we decided to be snow-snobs ... but I digress),  I came up with the plan: I'd get the grocery shopping done, then we'd take a walk in Liberty Park, then we'd head to the Red Iguana for a late lunch/early dinner, hoping to avoid the epic crowds.  A recent local newspaper review mentioned having to wait half an hour for lunch and close to an hour for dinner, and so I was keen on missing the high traffic times.

Liberty Park is a lovely city park that I drive by every day on my commute as one side of it borders 7th East.  It's pretty big (80 acres) with large grassy areas, beautiful big hardwood and evergreen trees, many picnic areas and stone fireplaces, swimming pool, playground, horseshoe pits, bocce courts, an island, the Tracy Aviary, a tennis center, folk art museum and a dedicated running/walking path around its perimeter.  B was well-behaved as we strolled all the way around, doing lots of sniffing and marking of territory, but largely ignoring the many other dogs who were also perambulating at the time.  We didn't go into the Aviary but could see peacocks, parrots and a huge sort of raptor through the fence.  We also saw a bunch of Renaissance Fair-types wearing Friar Tuck robes and whacking each other with padded swords.  We steered wide of that group.

We ended up at the Red Iguana a little after 4:00 p.m., H muttering something about how we're not quite old enough to be eating that early.  We weren't the only people with that idea, however, as the parking lot was practically full and we got the last open table; not fifteen minutes after we'd sat down, there was a line of at least ten people waiting to be seated.

The restaurant is a trip, its outside painted a bold red and orange stripe with the interior even more colorful.  There are autographed pictures of rock-n-roll stars adorning the walls, fighting for space with plastic and metal iguanas; the tables are all covered with brightly flowered oil cloth tableclothes, real flowers in little green glass vases.  The service was fantastic with waiters buzzing around like bees, filling water glasses, refilling chips and salsa dishes, offering more homemade tortillas.  Even with all that attention, and even with the growing crowd waiting for a vacant seat, we were never rushed.

The food.  Well, we're clearly going to have to go back again and again because the menu is just enormous.  H had chile verde: tender and flavorful cubed pork cooked in green chile and tomatillo sauce and served with rice, refried beans and tortillas.  I had a taste and it crushed the other two or three versions I've had of chile verde recently.  But what the Red Iguana is renowned for are their moles, sauces made of "dried and fresh chiles, nuts, spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables," and a mole* was what I had.  There are seven on the menu and while I was terribly tempted by the red pipian (pumpkin seeds, dried chile guajillo, peanuts, etc.), I went with their self-proclaimed King of Moles, mole negro.  I got a big plate with four or five large chunks of chicken covered in the glorious sauce, which consists of dried chile mulatto, negro pasilla, Mexican chocolate, raisins, peanuts, walnuts and bananas.  My plate was covered in the stuff and they had to serve my rice, beans and tortillas on a separate plate (I gave all my rice and beans to H).

Quite without hyperbole, that mole negro is absolutely the best sauce I have ever eaten.  It was thick and rich without being cloying or overpowering, so complexly flavored that I couldn't describe it to you if I tried.  It was incredible and I think I would have licked the plate clean if we hadn't been in a restaurant.  As it was, I swabbed up every last bit I could with the warm, soft tortillas and was actually sad when there wasn't any more.

It's not particularly cheap - all the moles are around $15.00 (although tacos, burritos, enchiladas and tostadas are considerably less) and the bottled beers are $3-$4.50 - but omigosh is it worth it.  And people know it's worth it: when we left around 5:00 p.m., the line was out the door and there were easily twenty people hanging out on the sidewalk, waiting for their chance at the Mexican ambrosia within.  I can't wait to go back and try it again - I'll just be sure to go early.

* Mole is pronounced MOH-lay.  Says so right on the menu.  This picture is on our way in - note all the benches that have thoughtfully been provided for the hordes who would soon be waiting.