As you walk into the vibrant interior of Xochitl (pronounced “So–Cheet”) in Head House Square, it’s easy to tell that it’s not your traditional Mexican restaurant. The music playing ranges from Counting Crows to Fleetwood Mac to Tom Petty, and the tables are covered with vintage Spanish movie posters. Renovations this past winter came when chef Lucio Palazzo was brought in to replac Dionicio Jimenez, who left to work at Stephen Starr’s El Rey. The Italian–born and native Philadelphian Palazzo is responsible for shifting the focus from traditional Mexican fare to a more global feel.
The drink menu has a limited wine and beer selection, but the extensive tequila list should tip you off that you should probably start with a margarita. The Xochitl margarita ($8) is nothing to write home about, but the blood orange La chilindrina ($9) provides the kick that’s missing, not to mention a rim of cinnamon, sugar and salt. The tasting menu ($35 for 4 courses) begins with guacamole ($9), which is served with cotija cheese and superbly crunchy house–made tortilla chips, though the dip itself is a bit bland and lacks the texture I prefer in guacamole.
The waitstaff is friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable, and we probably should have listened to our server when it came to deciding our appetizers and entrees. She recommended the huarache de calabaza ($9), and after tasting the fresh masa tortilla with black beans, pumpkin, slow–poached egg and pomegranate–chipotle salsa, the benefit of the restaurant’s global influence was beginning to make sense. We went out on a limb and tried the tostadas de tinga ($11), but the fishy salmon taste overpowered the avocado and Belgian endive, and could even be smelled across the table. Fortunately, the chef saved our appetizers by bringing out a smaller version of the lentejas entree ($15), in a cup bursting with flavor from spiced beluga lentils, butternut squash, kale, walnuts and royal trumpet mushrooms. Already rich and textured for a vegetarian dish, the chef added seared bone marrow on top to seal the deal, for non–vegetarians at least.
For the entrees, our server’s recommendation again proved to be superior: the callos ($22), which are seared scallops, pumpkin seed mole, roasted cauliflower, plantain and ham chips. The mole was a great accent for the scallops without overpowering them, and again the pumpkin added a delicious seasonal twist just as it had with the huaraches. Our own wildcard choice was the mole de olla de cerdo ($19), which could have been a meat lover's dream with pork cheek, belly and trotter, as well as morcilla blood sausage. Overall it was a bit unfocused, and the rutabaga–masa dumplings weren’t quite enough to balance the heaviness of the meat.
Despite the fact that the global influences were a bit confusing at times or lacking the kick that authentic Mexican cuisine offers, everything came together again with the dessert course. The pastel tres leches with pear compote ($7) was good on its own, but the real gems were the flan ($6) and the hurros ($6). The flan literally melted in our mouths, and the apple cider churros come with a warm goat’s milk cajeta dipping sauce that will be sure to quiet all conversation until it’s been devoured.
Xochitl
408 S. 2nd St.
(215) 238–7280
Don’t Miss: Huarache de Calabaza, Flan
Skip This: Tostadas de Tinga, unless you want to smell like fish
