(This post is based on a visit when the restaurant was known as Patron.) Chiles en nogada, poblano peppers stuffed with a fruit-laced picadillo and draped in walnut sauce, are associated with Mexico's Independence Day, on September 16. Back home, September is the traditional high season for fresh pomegranates, whose crimson seeds are essential in evoking the green, white, and red of the Mexican flag.
Nowadays, pomegranates are more easily imported from South America, where the fruit ripens between March and June, and chiles en nogada are more easily to be had. This one, by a Veracruzana chef, was featured on the specials board during the long weekend surrounding "Día Mamá" ($10). Does Father's Day get the same tricolor treatment?
La Cueva Fonda Mexicana (previously Patron Mexican Restaurant)
835 East 152nd St. (Union-Prospect Aves.), Woodstock, Bronx
347-590-0570
