Review: Agave y Aguacate serves excellent Mexican food in a refined new space

Agave y Aguacate ★★>½
35 Baldwin St., 647-748-6448

Two years after closing his cultish Kensington Market food stall, chef Francisco Alejandri has found a permanent home for his excellent Mexican food. The room is as loud and bright as a Day of the Dead festival, but the overall effect is refined—a perfect complement to Alejandri’s inventive dishes. His sopa tarasca, a blended soup with savoury pinto bean and tomato flavours balanced by an ancho chili bite, is finished with a slender squiggle of crema, and his signature lengua de res—tender cubes of beef tongue dressed with crunchy plantain and an astringent green olive punch—is an offal sensation. To close the meal, he creates a Mexican parfait: sweet biscuits layered with condensed milk and a tart lime custard tinged with olive oil and Maltese black salt. Closed Sunday and Monday.