Philadelphia Weekly

They say--they being Ed Norton in American History X--it's best to end a paper with a quote because somebody else has already said it better. So I'll start with one. In a recent PW story, my colleague Tim McGinnis said, "Giving chef Jose Garces ... mad props is a little like impregnating a Spears sister ... It's easy, it feels good, but it's been done before."

Jose Garces is a warm-and- fuzzies factory, a Chicago boy who's adopted Philly as his own and bookended Broad Street with winning restaurants. He gave us Spanish food. He gave us spit-roasted suckling pigs and a nasty sangria habit. That he comes correct with new trans-Schuylkill fiesta Distrito is really no surprise.

If Amada is the vixen of the family and Tinto the brainy sister, then Distrito is the black sheep that hit the border to make it as a successful drag queen in Hollywood. Spanning 9,500 square feet and two levels, Jun Aizaki's bubblegum-colored carnivale pops with pinks and greens, plaid cushions and gold lam� tabletops I wouldn't advise looking at it directly if you value your retinas. It's glittery. It's flamboyant. It's John Leguizamo in To Wong Foo. Ridiculous, but also kind of endearing.

Upstairs, guitarist Aurelio Fernandez Gonzalez strolls, singing "Piano Man" and "My Heart Will Go On" in Spanish while old Mexican movies flicker across a giant projection screen. Fresh-faced servers in white jeans skitter around the croissant banquettes like the scorpions laid into the yellow resin bar top. In the spic-and-span open kitchen, cooks in matching blue bandanas turn out creamy crab-covered guacamole, bubbling barbecued duck fundido and moles tucked into adorable mini Staub dutch ovens.

Executed by chef de cuisine Tim Spinner, Distrito's collection of playful small plates echoes the exuberance of its design, as well as the joie de vivre of Mexico City, where Garces spent 10 days last year.

The prices are palatable--two can escape Distrito (with some of the bar's 60 tequilas) for less than $100--but the quality still matches Garces' tonier endeavors. The tortilla chips served with guac, as well as the best-ever skirt steak-topped nachos evenly (and ingeniously) crisped on a cast-iron skillet, are made in-house. So are the aguas frescas, ice creams and the masa that thickens the grassy mole verde covering pan-crisped cubes of 36-hour sous-vide pork belly.

Another mole, this one yellow, exploded with sweet-and-tart pineapple fireworks over rabbit loin. Ceviches hinted at what's to come at Chifa: big-eye tuna blooming about coconut milk and lime sorbet; fiery, citrusy shrimp; ribbons of tender Spanish octopus splashed with avocado and garlic chips.

When a problem arose, it was usually of the quick-fix variety. Bigger tortillas would make for better bundling for the plantain chip-crusted hamachi tacos kissed with chipotle remoulade.

Braised in stock fortified with pasillas, guajillos, chipotles and beer, the veal cheek tacos cried for crunch to texturally balance all that supple meat. The nutty sweet coconut-lobster soup needed another shot of habanero.

The bone marrow tapa needed a set of gloves. Freeing the greasy goodness from two blazing-hot veal shanks involved a long, skinny spear and second-degree burns.

Service was scatterbrained one visit (mixed-up order, wrong menus), sure-footed another. The Paloma, a timeless Mexican thirst-buster of Jimador silver tequila, grapefruit soda, lime and salt, came without lime or salt but with a fly.

All it took, though, was one gloriously creamy bite of the tres leches to restore faith. Crowned with mango, papaya and petals of toasted meringue, it blew away all Distrito's other desserts. That's no easy task considering the subtle, not-too-sweet corn ice cream dusted with candied corn nuts and the paletas�--lime, coconut and strawberry popsicles I wish were sprinkled with the chili-salt angel dust that coats the mixed nuts at the bar. You can skip the churros; Apamate's still reign as the best in town.

Though Distrito doesn't walk on water, it proves how in-touch Garces is with modern appetites.