The Mission

The Mission Restaurant Review:

You may recognize executive chef Matt Carter from his former days at Zinc Bistro, a French café. But this enterprise from Carter is a Latin American catch-all of upscale dishes like posole, a tangy red chile broth bobbing with smoked pork, hominy, cabbage and avocado. Many dishes are artistic, such as the spinach, hearts of palm, bacon and requeson (ricotta) dressed with a date vinaigrette, or the almejas al vapor of steamed clams teamed with rock shrimp, chorizo, yucca and corn in a grippingly good aji amarillo chile broth. Other dishes may be more street fare---buttery corn on the cob sprinkled with chile paprika and cotija cheese, for example---but they're just as memorable as their fancier counterparts. Reminiscent of a Phantom of the Opera-style scene---glittering chandeliers, flickering candles and a backlit wall of Himalayan salt bricks---it's also a posh place to kick back and relax with a tasty blood-orange margarita, handcrafted sangría or any one of the Latin American wines.