Natalie Hernandez grew up in Houston, Texas, and spent much of each summer in her family’s hometown of San Miguel de Allende in the central highlands of Mexico, a Colonial-era city rich in culture and characterized by cobblestoned streets and pastel colors, with tons of greenery everywhere. My elder daughter lived in that area for a while, too. It’s an easy place to love, an easy life to miss.
A decade ago Hernandez moved to Brooklyn, and back then one of the things she missed the most was the food she loved as a kid, a very specific style of Mexican that involved lots of fresh ingredients, bright flavors, and very little meat. And so, after a series of pop-ups (notably, each time Mexico played in the last World Cup), and a successful Kickstarter campaign, in December Hernandez opened Boca Santa, a modest restaurant on a Bed-Stuy side street.
Boca Santa is the only tenant in this single-story building, which gives the place a homey feel despite the utilitarian white-box interior. Hernandez warms up the space with a plethora of plant life, pocked with little altars and random saints, the sorts of things you see all the time in San Miguel de Allende. There are about 25 seats in all, mostly at wooden tables with a few stools before the open kitchen adding to the mix. Hernandez spends her time back there, filling orders from what was nearly a full house at 6:30 last Saturday night, while her two colleagues help her there and also do everything else.
The Boca Santa menu is short, with a couple of starters, two different tacos, four quesadillas, and an Arroz con Leche offered for dessert. The tacos, both of which are hearty, lively, and vegetarian, should not be missed. The Mole one involves roasted potatoes, radicchio, queso fresco, and, as one would hope, enough mole spread around to really get your attention. The Charred Veggie model comes slathered with refried black beans and topped with spring onions, kale, tomato, and radish. These are delicious.
The only meat on the menu is found in the Quesadillas section, but even here it's deployed with a, shall we say, subtle hand. The Chicharrón is back there somewhere behind the slaws and salsa and globs of melted cheese, as are bits of Chorizo, and there's a definite fattiness to the former and smokiness to the latter which makes for pleasant eating experience, but these are really mostly about eating tortillas and cheese, both of which are excellent things. There's also a Black Bean and a Butternut Squash version.
You should probably request a crock of hot sauce with your quesadillas, as it brings some necessary zing to the proceedings. You'll definitely enjoy your guacamole more this way, which arrives, charmingly, on the half-shell, but lacks much flavor. Your other starter option is Elote, which appears as if it's prepared in the familiar fashion. The dessert is Arroz con Leches, and there are a couple of housemade Aguas Frescas available. The glass of Hibiscus Flower was tart and refreshing.
And there's more to come — Hernandez plans on serving brunch soon.
Boca Santa is located at 480 Madison Street in Bed-Stuy, just west of Marcus Garvey Boulevard, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Closed Monday. CASH ONLY (bocasantanyc.com)
