Kachina Southwestern Grill
Entering Kachina Southwestern Grill at the Westin Westminster, you might expect standard southwest/Tex-Mex fare. You would be wrong. This associate of Sage Hospitality isn’t reliant on hotel capacity. Kachina likes regulars, and word-of-mouth has been building for a year and a half. The decor is impressive, best described as “contemporary Mexican adobe,” and Nikki, our waitress, took the time to thoroughly explain the menu.
She steered us toward “The Chef and the Butcher,” a menu created by Kachina’s in-house butcher, chef and sous chef, who partner with local farmers and ranchers. A cilantro and cashew pesto with a piquant blueberry and tequila coulis threatened to overpower the Bison Carpaccio starter, but the Grilled Bison Tenderloin got a mouthwatering pucker from sautéed greens in a sweet-and-sour agrodolce and smoked jus.
Off the regular menu, the Scallop Ceviche was refreshing—diver scallops “cooked” in lime juice imparted a heady citrus scent, with tomato, radish, green onion and a pinch of smoked salt—and candied Fresno chiles for a sweet, hot pop. Under Para Mesa (“For The Table”), the Sausage + Cheese featured a chef ’s selection of artisanal meats and cheeses, plus housemade chorizo. The Navajo Tacos, served on platter-sized Indian fry bread instead of a tortilla, were crazy tasty, notably the Gaucho (slow braised lamb, smoked tomato aioli, Brussels sprouts slaw and cowboy beans).
We found two treasures among the main dishes. Grilled Chicken & Chorizo was a chorizo-stuffed thigh and achiotegrilled breast accented with abuelita chocolate mole, tequila lime cherries and chile-spiced piñon nuts. Filetes a la Plancha was outstanding—beef tenderloin wrapped in speck (a type of prosciutto), cooked to perfection and served with a sweet potato green chile gratin that was drop-dead delicious. We saved room for the Coconut Flan, lighter than the traditional Mexican dessert.
Richard Betts, one of a handful of master sommeliers in Colorado, built the wine list, and there are also dozens of varieties of mescal tequila’s smoky, spicy sibling—to choose from. I had mine in a specialty cocktail, the Burro Loco muddled cilantro, with lemon and ginger beer, served in a copper mug à la a Moscow Mule, but the pure white Sombra mescal gave it a kick that vodka couldn’t. The Diplomat was another delight—in-house aged Republic Tequila, Solerno (a potent blood orange liqueur), ginger liqueur— and amped up by a smoked ice cube that imparted its nuance as it melted, making every sip from the first to the last totally different. So I had another. Remember, chemically speaking, alcohol is a solution.
10600 Westminster Blvd.; 303-410-5813; kachinagrill.com
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