7/31/2019 Local Nuggets: Mucho Ultima

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7/31/2019 Local Nuggets: Mucho Ultima

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Michael Zislis had a simple plan when he opened Mucho Ultima right in the heart

o Manhattan Beach in November 2007.

I just wanted us to have great Mexican Food, Zislis said. For some reason,

Mexican ood has been dumbed down with tacos and burritos.

I you think about Mexico, you think about great fsh dishes and beautiul

ingredients like sea salt and capers. They just do all these interesting things, but it

never seems to translate. We wanted to use the reshest ingredients, whether that

meant fsh, vegetables or ruit.

Mucho, located at 903 Manhattan Avenue, scours local armers markets or the

best heirloom tomatoes, buys Santa Monica seaood and even uses micro cilantro in

many o its dishes.

Using the best seasonal ingredients, Mucho oers a watermelon salad in September,

a beet salad during the winter months and even rotates dierent margarita options

throughout the summer. Adding a cantaloupe margarita to the drink menu a ew

months ago, the restaurant is now eaturing a serrano chile and cucumber margarita.

I believe Mexican cuisine is as fne as French cuisine, Zislis said. Having great

ingredients is hal the battle. I you have great ingredients, you are hal way there.

We may charge a couple dollars more, but it is worth it because o the fnal product.

Scott Linquist, who traveled throughout Mexico the last 15 years, took Zislis

vision and breathed new lie into Mucho since rolling out a new menu three months

ago as the restaurants new che partner.

Some o the highlights include: tableside guacamole, served with warm tortilla

chips and three salsas ($11), duck enchiladas, ull o pulled conft o duck, mexican

cheeses, mole coloradito, plantains and poblano rice ($18) and chilean seabass

veracruzana in a traditional sauce o tomato, garlic, chiles, olives, capers and

oregano ($28).

Such ood and drink specialties can be enjoyed nearly anytime o the evening or

night, with Mucho oering a happy hour menu Sunday-Friday rom 5-6:30 p.m. and

staying open until 2a.m on Friday and Saturday.

The space and location is antastic. I really just wanted to change the ormat o

the menu to make it user riendly and simple, Linquist said. From that, we really

have a tons o modern, regional dishes and have really stuck to the roots. Everything

is resher and lighter.

With Linquists new vision or the restaurant, that also meant updating the decor.

Mucho now has brilliant, stamped light fxtures in the middle o the restaurant, along

with Mexican artwork along the walls, including paintings by the amous Mexican

artist Jose Ortega.

I always want it to be visually stimulating and have more clean lines, Zislis said.

We have incorporated a lot o Mexican colors, reds, blues, but we have no sombreros

or tequila bottles on the wall.

For Linquist, that means ulflling an important idea. I really want people to have

a festa when they come to the restaurant.

BY QUINN ROBERTS

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