If you have already tasted the sublime seviche of watermelon and scallops at the new Mexican restaurant called Xochitl, then you might understand Steven Cook's reaction last year to a tasting meal at Dionicio Jimenez's home: "I wanted to be in the Dionicio business."
Some people might have hesitated to invest in a 33-year-old with no head-chef experience who arrived in Philadelphia from Mexico nine years ago with no money to his name (though two brothers generously spotted him a starter loan).
But Jimenez has built an impressive resume since arriving, rising from dishwasher and prep cook to become an integral part of the kitchen at Vetri, where he finished an eight-year tenure as sous chef.
And Cook, who owns West Philly's Marigold Kitchen (where he was also the opening chef), knows a thing or two about the Vetri culinary farm, having already plucked one former sous, Michael Solomonov, to succeed him in the kitchen at Marigold.
Cook and Jimenez would become equal partners at Xochitl (so-cheat), which means flower in the Aztec language of Nahuatl. But this ambitious restaurant's intriguing approach to Nuevo Mexican cooking is clearly built on Jimenez's vision - an intimate understanding of authentic flavors updated with a contemporary touch, high-grade ingredients, and a lightness that defies the leaden and over-spiced cliches of Mexican cooking.
At their best, Jimenez's creations are vivid and stunningly original. That seviche, for example, takes one brilliant pairing - scallop and watermelon - and hones it to its most elegant presentation, with a nearly translucent layer of sliced raw scallops laid atop a paper-thin round of pink fruit. The contrast of textures and flavors - the juicy crunch and sunny sweetness of watermelon against the buttery slip and gentle marine tang of the scallop - was subtle but so startlingly good I can still taste it.
Jimenez has a noticeably light touch, but can also indulge in some of the lusty, rustic flavors of his native Puebla. Among the best is his chile en nogada, a plump poblano pepper stuffed with ground beef, toasted almonds and dried fruit that comes glazed in a pool of walnut cream jeweled with rubylike pomegranate seeds. The richness of the dish, with an exotic whiff of cinnamon to the meat, gave way to a swelling tingle of chile heat.
His cazuela of tender squid and mushrooms roasted in a deep brown paste of fried garlic and guajillo chiles is so intensely earthy it could be the Mexican definition of savory.
