San Nicolas DF

He tenido la suerte de conocer Serbia porque mi familia política es de allá y su comida es uno de los protagonistas de cada viaje. Así como su gente y su cultura, la gastronomía de allá no se anda con medias tintas. Sabores intensos, porciones gigantes, mucha carne, mucho pan, vegetales que jamás han escuchado de un pesticida. Las comidas serbias son comidas de campeones.
Cuando Bran abrió este local en el DF me emocioné mucho por la posibilidad de tener algunas de estas especialidades que he aprendido a amar. El negocio va empezando, y aunque algunos ingredientes simplemente no existen aquí, aprecio que se esfuerzan por conseguir lo más parecido posible. Nos contaba el chef, por ejemplo, que el queso que usan para el burek es uno que él mismo crea a partir de los quesos más similares de México. Él crea su propio pan y pastas de hojaldre.
Tienen que probar el ajvar, que es como un puré de pimientos rojos, una delicia. El burek es otro platillo obligado y alguna de las sopas del día, que tienen muy buen sazón. Es como una buena sopa de las que probé en casa de alguna tía de mi esposo.
No les puedo decir que es igual que comer en Belgrado, es difícil de recrear la experiencia al 100%. Pero sí es un buen acercamiento a los sabores de los Balcanes, cosa que hacía mucha falta en esta ciudad.

After finding the tiny restaurant of San Nicolas DF, I found the experience to be both exciting and authentic. Having never really experienced Serbian cuisine, I didn’t really know what to expect when I walked through the door. Luckily, my good friend, a Serbian himself, was checking out the place with me. When the chef (you can’t miss him, since the place is so small he seems to talk to everyone who walks in) made some recommendations, I was assured that these would be good authentic selections to try for the first time. The sopa (a sour meat soup/​stew) was excellent, particularly when I dipped the homemade bread in it. I was also brought a pepper sauce, that was more substantial than just a salsa. Chunky enough, I was able to eat it on its own, or again with the bread. Too spicy for my Serbian friend, I enjoyed this pepper sauce immensely. We finished the meal off with a cheese pie and some Turkish coffee. If anything, this place needs to work a little bit on their atmosphere. Yet really, that is a suggestion, not a complaint. All in all, I can’t wait to go back.

Okay. I’m not Serbian but I live in Chicago the second largest city populated by Serbians after Belgrade. I am used to eat Serbian food where Serbians eat. I’m biased sometimes but also very critical. Recently, I visited Mexico City and ate at San Nicolas, nestled in the trendy neighborhood of La Roma, a very hip neighborhood but is also very vivid, the house of many offices and shops, located in this neighborhood, so it is perfect if you work in the area and want to grab lunch. Or if you are shopping and your appetite starts to tell you is time to eat. I was impressed with everything from the venue, the high standars of sanitation, to the food which is simple but the flavors have remarkable depth. Chef Bran, who is active, fun, efficient and quick to attend to any of our requests. suggested certain items from the menu. I can’t name all of them. As an appetizer we ordered ajvar, a roasted red pepper & other ingredients spread and bread. In Chicago, is very common to eat it from the can, you find them at any European Deli, at San Nicolas everything is home made. Since my hubbie, Shawn and I never miss burek at our favorite restaurant back home, we ordered beef burek and cheese and that day Chef Bran had beef burek, (a pastry of light and flaky like phyllo dough, which by the way, the dough is prepared by Chef Bran from scratch. The burek was magnificent, simply perfect. The ingredients are fresh from local farmers and providers which not only makes the food fresh but is an excellent option to support the local economy. We also had shopska salad and that day, Bran suggested kisela chorba, a hot soup, perfect for the rainy days. We took some desserts to enjoy later at home, Shawn had baklavas and ate almost all MY apple klifas. I highly recommend San Nicolas to anyone who’s got a hankering for great food, foodies, maybe someone who is trying new, enjoys a European atmosphere and appreciates a great, attentive & positive staff! Stop by you won’t regret it.