Masa

Rating:

Masa is Mexican, but not too Mexican.

The Mexican dining scene is flourishing in the Twin Cities, thanks to our rapidly growing Mexican population, but the stylish new D'Amico & Partners' Mexican-themed restaurant is a world apart from places such as La Perla del Pacifico in Minneapolis, or the El Burrito cafeteria in St. Paul, both of which cater to a Mexican clientele.

While those restaurants emphasize authentic flavors and low prices, Masa's strong suit is style and presentation, aimed at young professionals. You aren't likely to find very many of La Perla's customers dining at Masa, or Masa's customers at El Nuevo Rodeo in Minneapolis.

The decor has the very contemporary sophisticated feel we have come to expect from D'Amico & Partners, with a bar bathed in a backlit orange glow and billowing fabric screens overhead. To bridge the gap between cultures, the walls are lined with fashion notebook sketches of urban Mexican beautiful people, whose lifestyles and complexions more closely match Masa's diners than do the working-class clientele of local taquerias. In a way, Masa resembles Azia, the fusion restaurant a little farther south on Nicollet: foreign flavors adapted to American tastes, in a stylish setting.

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