AZ Daily Sun, Mountain Living Section, April 2024
Written by Gail G. Collins
Corn—Mexico’s diet was built upon it. Cultivated as a staple crop by the Mayans and Aztec, they bred early, inedible ears into the delicious vegetable we relish today. As masa for tortillas, it undergirds a mainstay menu from tacos to enchiladas and tamales. Corn has been cooked by various means, but grilling cobs over an open fire predominated, and since then, a few condiments were added, and elote evolved as Mexico City’s favorite street food.
Elote Café finds its roots a bit farther south on the map. Chef-owner Jeff Smedstad polished his professional skills at Scottsdale Culinary Institute and with Susana Trilling at Seasons of my Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca. There, the chef spent time cooking on ranches with locals. To hone his craft, Smedstad spent 20 years traveling the back roads of Mexico, Veracruz, Puebla and his native Arizona shopping markets, sampling restaurant cuisine and engaging families.
With some preliminary insight gained at Los Sombreros in Scottsdale, Smedstad found his new home in Sedona, opening Elote Café in 2007. “The experience translates in a dish as it pops, reinterpreted as me,” Chef said. “I consider the dishes edible postcards.”
Read more: Matters of Taste: Elote Café in Sedona showcases Mexican street foodThe most popular items include lamb adobo—braised Superior Farms lamb shank served with a robust ancho chile sauce; and smoked pork cheeks—braised all natural pork cheeks served with cascabel chile sauce, grandma’s corn cake and buttermilk cumin drizzle. The richness of the pork contrasts with the coffee-colored cascabel or rattle chile and sharpness of the tomatillo.
The tomato and nopales salad features the cactus paddle tossed with house-crafted Oaxaca cheese and apple cider vinaigrette for a textured sensation.
Ingredients are as locally sourced as possible, but the focus is on quality, sustainable products. Niman Ranch livestock, a coop collective, raises traditional, humanely processed animals for the best, all-natural meats. Visiting the hog farmer in Iowa and the cheese monger for a Point Reyes blue assures that food is responsibly traced. “We look into it. Meeting them—it matters,” Smedstad assured.
The chef grew up with corn, and the restaurant, like the cuisine, reflects that relationship. Elote or street corn, the café’s signature showstopper, is cut from the cob, fire-roasted corn and slathered with a compound, spicy mayo and scattered with cotija cheese for fresh, fiery flavor.
Elote Café moved to its present location in 2020 to create a dedicated space, where everything has meaning. The keepsake art represents beautiful food, shared in a beautiful setting, such as Diego Rivera’s thoughts about food, Eileen Roberts’ landscape painting Elote over the Red Rocks and more. Walls of rusty red, and seating in leather banquettes and booths surrounding copper tabletops provide the gallery backdrop. A long pub table of inlayed, hammered copper parallels the rough-hewn bar to welcome guests.
“We put on a show every night with an equally great experience for all,” Chef said. Consistency is always the battle, and dishes must be as true a decade ago as they are today, but there is joy and fun is in the specials, like a wild mushroom quesadilla.
Inspiration comes from across the board, such as the family corncake recipe to influences, like wild jicama and chilies, from an Arizona motorcycle trip.
Alongside the meal, a margarita is a must. Jeff’s margarita was born of efficiency and habit, made with Siete Leguas Reposado, Cointreau and fresh lime juice. Bala De Plata mixes Herradura Blanco, Cointreau, lime and a lively mix. Cocktail choices feature a smoked old fashioned or roasted pineapple mezcal. Or chill with local ales or Mexican beers.
“Everything behind the bar, we drink—it’s upscale taste,” Smedstad assured, noting all waitstaff are educated by their tequila “sommelier” with every factoid about agave. Bartending takes months of training where only fresh juices, purees, and mixes are blended in house.
Staff are long term at Elote, logging ten years easily, like general manager Juan Rojas. “110-percent is the people within these walls, who make the difference. They come in and execute every day—that’s the key to success.”
Awards and reporting on Elote has ranged locally from the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Magazine to national outlets, like Fox News, Boston Globe, Sunset Magazine and more.
Elote contributes to community via major fundraising efforts for Imagination Library and is active with local food banks.
But due to its longtime success, it’s hard to get a table. No, the app Open Table is not broken; Elote Café is simply booked two months out. Smedstad explained, “I don’t believe in Mexican restaurants, just great restaurants.” AZDSun