Michelin, But Not Gourmet

This whole Michelin thing intrigues me. A few years ago it seemed that Michelin was watering down the brand by giving out more awards to a wider variety of places, but I have decided that Michelin is adapting to a changing world as everyone and everything else is.

In the last ten years, dining has downscaled into a much more casual experience. Tom was disappointed in this several years before he became too ill to have it even register. His physical illness protected his heart from cracking into pieces.

There has been much talk about Emeril shooting for a Michelin star, but it seems that we are off their radar. They do appear to be making the rounds all over America. The red square with simply the word “Michelin” and a date seemed to turn up in a few places in Napa and Sonoma.

One of them was most unexpected. It’s an adorable little Mexican food place called El Molina Central in Sonoma. It is a walk-up with all seating outside. (There may be one table inside where the ordering is done.) The first thing to greet you inside are two Michelin posters, one for 2021 and this year. Those are right under the board overhead with the menu.

Outside in back is a charming patio which is part of the building but open on all sides. It has pretty colors all around and a lovely tile floor. 

There is a communal table and a lot of bright picnic tables in the parking lot. Cumbersome, but it works.

The menu is pretty short, but you are given a list of specials for the day. That list is short as well, but there is certainly enough here.

It is from that list that we chose the least ordinary of our order. I cannot resist tamales if I see them anywhere. They are available here in larger quantities, which disappointed me, until I noticed a plate of two on the menu. Done. ML was excited about the nachos.

From the specials we got quesadillas of the day, which came as a duo: squash blossoms and a cheese stuffing, and chorizo in the other. The plate also had a dish of guacamole.

We started with chips and salsa, which is not a given. It must be ordered. The chips were unusual. I remember Fritos when they came out, and I never understood them. These chips of corn are thick and intense. The chips at El Molino were similar in taste and thickness, but were instead cut into large flat pieces. They came with a big bowl of equally intense salsa, which tended to also be a bit thicker and was at the high end of spicy.

With the exception of the fire-mitigating masa of the tamales, everything we had here put out intense heat, most of it too spicy for me. The avocado was mostly creamy avocado with nothing else. That helped cool the fire of the rest of the food it complemented.

The quesadillas seemed more like the tacos I see of late. They are folded over and grilled, and filled with various things. Here was a cheese filling with squash blossoms, and a very hot sauce. I didn’t taste much of the flavor of the squash blossoms or the cheese. It was too much for me, and even ML, who loves intense spice.

I’m all into chorizo, no matter where it is. There was a crumbled version inside the tortilla, but again the salsa condiment was too much for me. This time it was jalapeño.

ML’s nachos were made with these same chips that were in no danger of getting soggy, but that was not the way it turned out. They were a little soggy because of that same quesillo cheese, but she liked them anyway. Flanked by thinly sliced radishes, the ubiquitous hip veggie, these pleased her.

We were both intrigued with the Oaxacan cheese quesillo, which was what made the nachos soggy, and overtook the squash blossoms inside the quesadillas. It melts a little too easily. This cheese is made like mozzarella, and it had that same consistency when melted.

I was delighted with my tamales. They were big and fat and loaded with meat. The sauce on them was not overwhelming, and I was able to eat them with no reservations. A little pile of pickled vegetables came with this, and I ate it all.

At our communal table was a guy from Morgan City, LA with his wife, who had found the place while staying in Sonoma for a wedding. We found it while searching online.

I feel like we didn’t taste much of what the place had to offer, though I really enjoyed the experience of being there. It was just so pretty and the weather lovely, and the place so charming, we want to return and have some more of the ambience, and to explore this menu more.