THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605080652
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Restaurant review
SOURCE: BY DONNA REISS, RESTAURANT CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
THE MOOD IS animated at the Virginia Beach restaurant formerly known as Animation. But the name is new: Coyote Cafe, since January.
Some locals know the Coyote in its other forms. In 1989, it moved into an old house on 22nd Street at the Beach, where Crawdad's had became popular earlier in the decade. More Southwestern than its predecessor, the Coyote became a favorite for its cozy setting with fireplace, refreshing well-balanced margaritas, and trademark dishes like oysters Santa Fe and red-pepper pasta. An adjacent space eventually became a packed noisy bar, separate enough not to disturb most diners but near enough to annoy some.
Now, Coyote owners Gary Black and Ritchie Boner have joined Animation owner Andy Stein to offer a bigger Coyote on Laskin Road. There are more seats, more parking, and a few more menu items.
On our visits, the service has been good, and the chambray-shirted staff good-natured. The art by local artists is fun to see; the cartoon stills in the lounge add whimsy. Chef J.T. (John) Taylor's food is so enjoyable we always return.
Diners are greeted with peppery taco chips and fresh salsa with crisp chunks of onion. Oysters Santa Fe, on the appetizer menu, was even better than we remembered from our last visit to the old Coyote. In a lightly spiced creamy sauce spooned over terrific bread from nearby Baker's Crust, the dish was accented with just enough spinach and garlic. Another more filling favorite, spicy corn cake - layered roasted corn, peppers, beans, cheese, guacamole and salsa - is big enough to share as a starter.
Wild boar bacon tamales stood upright in their corn husks, the first-rate cornmeal masa dough spiked with nibbles of lean pork. A salsa of corn and chili was a crunchy-fresh accompaniment. The salsa also accompanied overly breaded chiles rellenos stuffed with goat cheese.
We did not skimp on starters, beginning with spinach salad in a chic red cabernet dressing. It was the perfect foil for jumbo matchstick slices of slightly crunchy jicama, a Southwestern root familiar to my dinner companions, all of whom had lived in Texas. An evening special soup of black bean with avocado, in an artful design to swirl, arrived too cool. Alas, neither the bean nor the green was flavorful, alone or mixed.
Other openers included chorizo chili, white bean tortilla with fire-roasted chicken, a stacked salad with avocado and mango, roasted garlic with goat cheese, and a quesadilla with chicken and guacamole.
``Big Stuff'' is the menu header for main dishes, which feature a Southwestern style with a beach-town spin. A down-home specialty from Animation's menu is now known as Madre's Meat Loaf. It comes with a choice of gravy or barbecue sauce. Here, a French vol-au-vent becomes chicken breast, roasted chili peppers and Jack cheese baked in pastry. Smithfield Lean Generation pork comes with pine nuts and Anaheim peppers.
Main dishes brought treats and disappointments. The pine-nut encrusted tuna described by our menu and our server as medium rare, for example, was medium and therefore rather dry. A side rice was lackluster. The kitchen's accommodation for a meatless dish - omit the scallops from the usually tasty scallop and wild mushroom pasta - brought an unannounced substitution of white noodles instead of the expected red-pepper fettuccine, as well as an inadequate portion of the promised herbal sauce.
In contrast were the pleasing flavors and substantial portions of roasted duck and a chalkboard special steak. The duck was splendidly crisp outside from apple-chili-rosemary glaze, and tender within. Rice and beans were bland accompaniments. The tenderloin special was sizeable and the meat flavorful. Its lattice of goat-cheese pepper coulis was all the sauce it needed. Chunky mashed potatoes with fried leek threads was a perfect side dish.
Sweets come from excellent local bakers. Creamy fruit tarts and a rich Mexican chocolate cake tinged with cinnamon were fine finishes.
The dining room is sufficiently separated from the busy lounge, where the open kitchen bustles with saute and assembly cooks. Large Fiesta plates came sprinkled with pepper or decorated with colored sauces to spell out Coyote Cafe. The margaritas were large and nicely balanced.
As diners leave, they can help themselves to oversized peppermints from a bowl by the exit.
There's so much to like about the new Coyote, we tolerated a couple of glitches. We trust the conscientious and enthusiastic owners and kitchen staff will improve on these soon.
MEMO: Reviews are based on a single, unannounced visit by a party of two or
three, unless otherwise noted. The Virginian-Pilot pays for the
reviewer's meal and those of the guests. ILLUSTRATION: COLOR PHOTOS BY ROY A. BAHLS
Potato-Encrusted Salmon ($13.95) is topped with a savory cream
sauce. Here, it is served with Coyote rice and asparagus.
RIGHT: The Coyote Cafe has moved into the former site of Animations
in Virginia Beach.
Graphic
BILL OF FARE
Coyote Cafe and Cantina, 972-A Laskin Road, Virginia Beach,
425-8705.
Cuisine: contemporary southwestern style.
Atmosphere: upbeat, informal, eclectic, decorated with local art
and cartoon stills.
Prices: lunch from $3.50 to $9; dinner starters from $3.50 to
$6.25; main dishes from $8.75 to $17.95; desserts from $3.75 to
$4.50. Children's portions on request.
Hours: lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through
Saturday; dinner from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, from
5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; late-night limited menu from 11
p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Reservations: recommended.
Smoking: 50 percent of seating weeknights, 33 percent weekends
(limited to lounge in back of restaurant).
by CNB