Enchiladas de Mole al Fogón at Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
One of my family’s treat outings is an afternoon lunch at the open air cantina Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The food at Hay’s Place is traditional and contemporary Mexican. The last time my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went for lunch, we began with smashed guacamole and yellow and blue corn chips. The guacamole was really a salad with tomato chunks, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro smashed with avocado and mixed with lime juice. This is a delicious combination for nibbling on while great dishes come from the kitchen.
As my main dish, I ordered Enchiladas de Mole al Fogón. For this dish, soft corn tortillas encircle chicken strips cooked with poblano chiles, corn kernals, and warm and melted Oaxacan cheese, which is like mozzarella.
The mole sauce is a specialty of Puebla, Mexico. It is a savory chocolate sauce mixed with chile peppers and spices. The mole sauce goes of top of the enchiladas (3 of them) and around them on the heated plate from the hearth, the fogón. Toasted sesame seeds are sprinkled on everything.
As garnishes, Hay’s Places serves mild feta-like cotija cheese on top of the enchiladas along with red pickled onion slices and avocado slices. This dishes looks and tastes very good. Cotija cheese comes from Michoacán, Mexico.
Black beans and Spanish rice accompany this scrumptious dish. Everything seemed to go very well with the horchata, a Mexican rice and milk drink topped with cinnamon that I ordered to go with this meal. Horchata is non-alcoholic and nice for designated drivers.
The view, ambience, and delicious Mexican food at Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California make it a nice place for a relaxed lunch while touring 17-Mile Drive.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
