Guac for Days

My mother has a friend from El Salvador named Daisy who, when my brother and I were children, would sometimes babysit when my folks went out. Most often, we’d get dropped off at her house where, by the way, her son Michael had a Nintendo (strictly forbidden in our home), so you know it was a cool night. And though I haven’t seen Daisy in decades, the smell of her kitchen lingers in my mind like some sort of unignorable splinter. She didn’t always cook for us when we visited, but the handful of dishes she prepared have stuck with me, be they tortas or quesadillas or, in one case, a dessert whose name I can’t recall that I never encountered again.

The fleeting memory pops up as an errant smell when I’m focused on something else or, as is the case with new-ish downtown Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant Torogoz, whenever I learn there’s food from El Salvador to eat.

Torogoz (410 Old Santa Fe Trail Units A&B, (505) 603-8100), the newest project from Maria Ramirez and her children Nain and Johana, operates in the former space that housed Chef Paddy Rawal’s Raaga Go, and opened there following Rawal’s retirement last October.

Don’t let Torogoz’s newness discourage a visit. The Ramirezes are no strangers to food service and have run Southside food truck La Esperanza Kitchen (3005 Cerrillos Road) for years now. Though the brick and mortar game is relatively new for the clan, Torogoz—named after the national bird of El Salvador; aka the turquoise-browed motmot—and the Ramirezes are more than up to the task. I even cried about my experience there (more on that later).

At the new spot, matriarch Maria performs the main cooking duties across a surprisingly varied menu of items that encompass both Salvadoran and Mexican cuisine. You’ll find the usual suspects—dishes like tostadas and tacos and burritos and tortas—as well as fajitas and a number of seafood dishes, not to mention a burger, a steak and, for the kids, a little personal-sized pizza.

A companion and I visited on a Wednesday evening, which just so happened to be pupusa night at Torogoz (swish!). In short, the pupusa is a Central American staple with roots in El Salvador and Honduras, but plenty of traction throughout the region and, likely, a bit of difference any place you go. Think of a satisfyingly thick corn tortilla stuffed with various ingredients from meat to veggies to cheese, and in any combination therein. At Torogoz, we learned, they rank among the finest in Santa Fe (a list that includes Red Enchilada and, of course, the mighty food truck Pupusería and Lonchería La Providencia).

On Wednesdays at Torogoz, you’ll receive a list of enticing pupusa options, and when we cautiously inquired as to whether it was weird to go that route for appetizers, our server—co-owner Johana herself—gave us the sort of “Heck yes, you can!” look that makes you know you’ve chosen wisely. We encountered challenges, however, wending through the menu, given both meaty and vegetarian pupusas. We ended up choosing one with chicken ($6) and one with pork, beans and cheese ($5)—a wise choice indeed—and everything from the crisp of the edges to the soft give of the stuffed insides showcased a chef at the top of her game. Even, or especially, the charred bits tasted so excellent, the only downside felt like having a stomach with a finite amount of space.

For our mains, my companion selected the veggie taco plate which, at $17.95, sounded pretty pricey for tacos—and then they arrived: four massive tacos brimming with fresh carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, red and green bell peppers, onion and what appeared to be at least a full avocado’s worth of guacamole. On the side, the dish included a buttery rice and a small bowl of refried beans that could only be described as creamy. Frankly, the tacos were a triumph.

I, meanwhile, was quite delighted to see the torta salvadoreña on the menu ($19.95), as its description of refried beans, ground beef, fresh veggies and jalapeños served on French bread (which comes from a private baker in Española, we later learned) sounded so eerily similar to a sandwich my mother’s friend Daisy made me in my youth that I had no choice but to succumb. And then it was that sandwich. And I mean in every way. The mingling of ground beef and beans alone would have made the torta a notable local dish, but the soft chew of the bread and the salt and fat of the side of fries unlocked something deep within me. The next moment I remembered involved my companion grasping my wrist and asking me if I was OK. Tears welled up in my eyes as memories flashed through my brain in rapid succession. Co-owner Johana arrived to see how we were doing with the meal. “Lady,” I told her, “you have no idea.” And then she, too, got the spiel about my old family friend.

The following day, co-owner Nain told me by phone Torogoz has just been approved for its liquor license and will soon have alcohol on offer. As the weather warms up, too, the restaurant’s patio could become a summertime must. Make sure to go on a Wednesday. Get the pupusas.