Next was a dinner at Em in Roma Norte. I’d had a late a la carte dinner at Em before on a previous trip, and have also had a dinner at a residency that chef Lucho Martínez did here in SF at Turntable at Lord Stanley. I enjoyed both meals very much so I booked the Chef’s Counter menu on Tock.
The chef’s counter is very small and seats two. It is right in front of the kitchen.
To drink, I started with a Smoky Negroni
Dinner started with a dashi steeped with hojo santa, an herb found in Mexico, poured out of a tea kettle. Japan x Mexico. This was a subtle dashi with some herbal notes from the hojo santa.
Next, a trio of little bites. A huitlacoche (corn smut) tart with Chiapas cheese, a croquette with an escamole (ant larvae) filling, and baby corn. All were quite good. I think I liked the escamole croquette the most.
And then came three dishes featuring tuna. First, a bluefin tuna with a mole, which was on the bottom.
A bluefin tuna tostada with chili mayonnaise and avocado. I had something like this on my previous visit and it was as delicious as before.
Finally a luxurious tuna tartare tart with cucumber and a generous dollop of caviar.
All were delicious!
A buñuelo topped with a stone crab (?) paste from Baja California and chilis, and trout roe. Very good. A buñuelo is like a crispy donut (thanks Google). This one was shaped into a flower like form and was indeed crispy. It had a nice mix of textures from the crispy sweet-ish buñuelo base, the creamy crab paste, and the briny trout roe.
Next, a risotto-like dish with butter, white truffle, enoki mushrooms. Rich and buttery and truffle-y.
And then, a breaded and fried piece of dover sole, on top of spinach, garlic chips, garlic foam, and topped with caviar from a fish that I neglected to write down. The fish was delicious and crunchy and meaty, and the savory garlic foam and caviar, which popped in your mouth, were very nice accompaniments.
A bao filled with potato and topped with uni. This was a quite dense bao. Good.
Next, a beef course, which was the last savory dish of the dinner. The beef was described as a cross of wagyu and Angus, from Mexico. This was topped with a chimichurri sauce, and to the left was a chili spiked bearnaise. Delicious! The beef was super beefy with a bit of chew. Also to the right of the beef, some lettuce with cheese and an herb that I don’t remember the name of. This was kind of like a fancy wedge salad.
I was given a palate cleanser of a shiso leaf wrapped around a membrillo filling (no picture).
The first dessert course, a pineapple sorbet and chunks of pineapple, topped with a coconut disc. Cool, refreshing, tropical.
A mamey tart. Garnished with mamey seeds underneath. Mamey is a fruit native to Mexico that is sweet and has a rich avocado like texture.
And then a slice of mamey tiramisu with mascarpone. This was served out of a pie plate. Very nice.
This was an excellent dinner at Em, with a mix of Asian and Mexican flavors. The cost of dinner was $3500.
Kitchen Pictures
After dinner I had some drinks at 686 Bar, which is accessed by walking through the kitchen and up a spiral staircase. I was only slightly disappointed that the entrance wasn’t through a fake freezer door 
. It is a dark and intimate bar.
I had a
White Mezcal Negroni ($260)
Lalocura Espadin Cocchi Blanco, Lillet
and a Citrus Maracuyá ($120) mocktail
Maracuyá, Jugo de Limón, Jarabe
Which was very refreshing.
