#modern-mexican

#modern-mexican

Signatures - refried lentils, duck albondigas, lamb neck consommé - return in a new, warm setting, without sacrificing the complexity that made the original iconic. Chicharrón reimagined into a crisp-soft pinwheel of pork belly. Duck albondigas permeated with smokiness from chipotle and bacon. Lamb neck, its meat as yielding as pot roast, previously steamed in tamales and currently fashioned as chile-stained barbacoa set over fragrant consommé.

You order guacamole most anywhere in town and you know what to expect - a bowl of mashed avocado mixed with salt, lemon or lime, and one pepper or another. You order guacamole at Casita in Sherman Oaks - and you get a Las Vegas production. There's a large bowl of guac, mixed with onions. There are five salsas, ranging from a classic tomato and pepper salsa to one that looks and tastes like salad dressing.