A visit to Distrito

What can I say about Jose Garces that hasn't already been said?

Garces, who runs the Spanish tapas restaurant Amada , the Basque region focused Tinto and now Chifa, which celebrates Peruvian-Chinese!, all in Philadelphia, is one of the most exciting chefs now on the scene.

His food is thoughtful, fun, well-balanced, big-flavored, rustic yet refined, cutting-edge yet also approachable.

Trying to book a table at one of Garces eating palaces - especially on the weekend - can be an exercise in futility. (Well, maybe not if you mind eating with the early birds at 5:45 p.m., or getting a late night meal after 9:30 p.m. )

Garces is a super guy. In Feb. 2006, he invited me and New York Times food writer/cookbook author Melissa Clark into his kitchen at Amada to learn the secrets of his empanadas with an escabeche sauce. The popular dish, a Spanish turnover stuffed with spinach and manchego cheese, is adapted from one of Garces' grandmother's recipes. I was writing a story about Clark, who was promoting her cookbook "Chef Interrupted: Delicious Chefs' Recipes That You Can Actually Make at Home," (Clarkson Potter). Garces cooked his version of the dish and then watched as Clark deconstructed it for the home cook. It was a fun afternoon and Garces couldn't have been more gracious.

This past weekend, I visited Garces's relatively new restaurant Distrito, corner of 40th and Chestnut streets in West Philly, which is a semi-finalist for the 2009 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. At Distrito, he is revisiting his early chef's roots. Before venturing out on his own, Garces had been in charge of the kitchen of El Vez, a Stephen Starr Mexican restaurant.

The casual color scheme of Distrito is hot pink and green. Wrestler masks line the wall while clips of Jack Black's movie "Nacho Libre" and the Chevy Chase-Steve Martin-Martin Short classic "The Three Amigos" are projected on a jumbo screen TV. The bar has a marquee that lists the drink specials and bottles of tequilas are bathed in a soft pink light. (Sorry for the crappy cellphone camera photos. This was a "my time, my dime" meal and I left my camera at home.)

Distrito is Garces take on "modern Mexican" cuisine and, like Amada and Tinto, the "small plates" sharing concept is encouraged. There also are chef's tastings - known as Diego Rivera ($35 per person) and Frida Kahlo ($55 per person) and several "larger plates" options - such as whole grilled fish Veracruz style ($33) and organic chicken in chipotle-orange chile glaze ($22).

But definitely do the plate sharing thang. Our server suggested three plates per person, but I think we could have been fine with two each. Distrito's red sangria is fabulous - it's refreshing without tasting like a fruit bomb - but don't miss out on the margaritas. I ordered the pineapple margarita ($10) - made with freshly squeezed pineapple juice and fruit and Jimador silver tequila. I'm still thinking about that on-the-rocks cocktail.

Traditional guacamole ($10) is topped with a dusting of freshly shaved cotija cheese and it looked like freshly fallen snow on a green mountain. El Vez always had terrific, creamy guacamole and Garces may be using the same recipe here - but this one is all about avocados and no added ingredients like tomatoes.

Atun ceviche ($11) is tropical combination of sliced, raw big-eye tuna, a light and tangy serrano-coconut sauce and a refreshing scoop of lime sorbet. The huaraches, or flat breads, are thin, cracker crispy corn masa. My dining partner was partial to the guisados ($11) or short rib with three-chile BBQ - while I quite happily munched away at the Los Hongos, an earthy-tasting blend of forest mushrooms, topped with huitlacoche sauce, black truffles and baby corn shoots ($12.)

I was psyched to try the duck breast mole ($10) - the sliced duck arrives in a tiny cast-iron pot and is served over rice - but the kitchen skimped on rich mole sauce and there wasn't enough to enjoy the full-flavor or to cover the rice. That's the dish I will probably skip on my next visit.

But don't miss the carne kobe tacos ($15) stuffed with a mash of truffle potato and topped with a zippy tomato-horseradish escabeche and frizzled, crunchy yukon fries that are light as straw. You get three tacos per plate - (the tortillas are smaller than the average size tacos.)

It's Mexican food but raised to whole new level and it's wonderful.