Poca Cosa's folksiness intact

Who else would think the ground floor of a parking garage would make a sleek, Big City-style restaurant?

No one but Dávila.

That's exactly what she's made of her Café Poca Cosa, which was driven out of its longtime home at the Clarion Santa Rita Hotel and ended up at North Scott Avenue and East Pennington Street.

Yup, that sort of desolate corner of Downtown with the multifloor parking garage.

But there is nothing desolate about this new space. On the wall outside, "Café Poca Cosa" in simple shiny undersize letters announces that this is the new home of one of Tucson's best Mexican restaurants.

To the side is a small patio — maybe the only disappointing aspect of the new home. Her patio at the hotel was cool and colorful and like a little Mexican oasis in the middle of town. This is open to the street, and sans any atmosphere.

Inside, the feel is wildly different from her straight-out-of-Mexico digs at the hotel.

Oh, there's a deep-red wall, and masks and art from Mexico, and a stunning Daniel Diaz mural of the infant Christ on the wall that leads to the kitchen. But sleek, gently curved booths replace many of the bare tables. Dark wood, cloth-free tables fill out the rest of the sitting area. There are soft lines, soft lighting, a concrete floor, and, while it's loud, it's nowhere near as loud as Poca Cosa's former home.

This is sophistication with a healthy dose of ethnic folksiness thrown in.

Waiters dressed in black look cool and hip. Dávila, who wanders the dining room with short, cropped hair and a spotless white apron wrapped around her waist, looks cool and hip.

The customers look cool and hip.

Such is the power of a restaurant with a Big City feel to it.

But, lucky us, Café Poca Cosa's beauty is not just skin-deep.

Dávila may have altered the look of the restaurant, but she knows better than to fool with the menu. Or, rather, the essence of the menu — in reality, it changes twice a day, depending on what's fresh and what her mood is. But it's always reflective of cuisine from around Mexico.

On one recent visit, she was in the mood for mole, as she often is. Hallelujah.

Even mole haters love what Dávila does to the sometimes- spicy, sometimes-gentle topper for beef or chicken (and she often does something different with it; she knows more than two dozen recipes for mole).

It was chicken that was topped in the pechuga mole negro ($19), which was devoured on a recent visit. The sauce, with ground almonds, sesame seeds, a slow burn from a combination of chiles and just a touch of the traditional chocolate, was generously poured over a moist chicken breast still on the bone. Slop that sauce up with the corn tortillas. Ask for a spoon. Heck, lick the plate. You won't want to miss one drop.

Ditto the crema de espinacas ($17). This multilayered dish with creamed spinach between corn tortillas dripped with velvety Monterey Jack and bounced with flavor.

Sweet tamale pie, cheesy and with a hint of heat, is always on the menu, but the toppings differ ($16-$18, depending on toppings). On a recent visit, that was a creamy broccoli sauce.

And if you trust the Café Poca Cosa kitchen — and there's no reason not to — let them whip together a chef's plate for you ($20). A hefty taste of three different dishes. They choose, not you. But we've never been disappointed.

Every dish comes with a side of warm corn tortillas, tender beans, tasty rice and a crackling salad with greens that look and taste as though they were just hauled in from the garden. That Dávila, she's even a visionary about our health.

Review

Café Poca Cosa

110 E. Pennington St., 622-6400

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Family call: Kids are welcome, but it's a grown-up kind of place.

Noise level: It's loud, but not nearly as loud as the restaurant's former home.

Vegetarian choices: The menu changes daily, but there's at least one delicious offering.

Dress: Tucson casual

Reservations: Most definitely

$$-$$$