Walker’s Point, Sixth and National. Storefront homes of the defunct Acapulco Mexican Restaurant and Lopez Bakery are shuttered and dark. The street looks in need of some sun, and I don’t just mean in the sky. But there’s one place on the south side of National Avenue that, once night falls, glows – a brick façade with a pretty name written in cursive letters above the entrance.
Quimera.
There’s a poem about a Puerto Rican family that leaves their homeland for the United States and a chance to live the American Dream. But they yearn to return to their island home. Olga and Jorge Ramirez were inspired by the poem when they named their restaurant Quimera (“Dream”). The Ramirezes pay visits to Olga’s home city – Vega Alta, in northern Puerto Rico – but there’s no need for them to pine for that exotic place so different from Wisconsin. The couple has Puerto Rico in their new two-room restaurant in Walker’s Point.
Olga greets diners at the door of the sparse, lofty space. Ceiling fans slowly oscillate, keeping the temperature from soaring while the stereo cranks out Spanish music. A tender doles out bottled beer, wine, mojitos and martinis from the attractive tile bar. At the white- and cobalt blue-covered tables, diners start out munching on crisp bunches of shredded, fried plantain, served with a dipping sauce – the semiofficial condiment of Puerto Rico, a pink blend of ketchup and mayonnaise. This complimentary appetizer is the tasty equivalent of chips and dip.
The menu is a tapestry of dishes prepared by chefs who drive up from Chicago to cook here. It’s relatively easy to get a handle on Puerto Rican cuisine once you’re armed with a little knowledge. For example, a stew or sauce often starts with sofrito, a Spanish condiment made from sautéed green pepper, tomato, garlic, onion and annatto.
Along with meat or fish, a complete meal will have rice and beans and tostones (fried plantains, aka green bananas). The fillings can come on bread ($3.95-$6) or between two slices of fried plantain. (The banana sandwich is called a “jibarito,” $4.50-$5.95.) “Mofongo” is another plantain creation: Mashed fried bananas come as a side dish or in a creation called mofongo rellenos, where the pulverized plantain is molded into the shape of a whole bell pepper, the cavity filled with a stew ($7-$12.50).
Puerto Rican food is not going to make your neck sweat. It’s substantial, approachable and no better illustrated than in the house sampler, featuring mini ground beef-filled appetizers – a couple of flaky empanadas, mashed potato pockets and golden, crusty fritters ($7.50). You dip these finger tip-warming bites in the ketchup/mayo sauce before popping them in your mouth.
The texture of the tostones makes them ideal for sandwiches, with a toothpick pierced through them to keep the layers together. I like a slice of fried pork – layered with tomato and dill pickle, lettuce and mayo – between two slices of warm, mild pan-fried plantain. You could have steak or ham and American cheese as a filling instead.
Rice takes on another significant starch role in the meal. I like the texture and plain-Jane flavor of white rice (and stewed pink beans) with the roast-like fried pork seasoned with onions and garlic ($9.95), but yellow rice is super worked into forkfuls of boneless chicken breast stuffed with mofongo ($9.95). The rice soaks up the moisture from the chicken’s tomato/oregano-laced sauce – and sets a sweet tooth in motion. It’s my belief that carbohydrates beget carbohydrates. The more you eat, the more you crave.
How convenient that Olga Ramirez has a fine coconut flan on the menu – a firm, caramel-drenched custard, rich and creamy and permeated with tropical fruit flavor ($4). Bites of it can send a person into blissful silence, a reverie of sorts. When is the first flight out to San Juan? But then I remember – it’s spring here in Walker’s Point.
Quimera Cocina Boricua, 631 W. National Ave., 414-645-8202. Hours: Tues-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sun 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Prices: appetizers $5.75-$7.50; salads and sandwiches $3.95-$7.95; entrées $5.95-$12.50; desserts $4. Service: welcoming, eager to help educate. Dress: jeans appropriate. Handicap access: yes. Nonsmoking. Credit cards: M V DS. Reservations: for large parties.
