Esquites de Farro con Uchepo (corn salad with farro and tamale) at Amparo Fondita (Photo courtesy of Amparo Fondita)

By DCist contributor Holley Simmons

The breakout hit on Amparo Fondita’s menu of upscale Mexican dishes? The side of black beans.

“I’d say 80 percent of the feedback we’re getting is about how good the beans are,” says chef Christian Irabién, who is currently running the Mexican pop-up restaurant at Brookland’s District Space through September 30. “Usually when you go to a Mexican restaurant, you get a slop of them on top of rice, they’re an afterthought.”

Not so at Amparo Fondita. Made with salt, water, avocado leaves, and traditional Mexican spices, the beans represent what Irabién is aiming to achieve through his cooking.

“It’s this idea that you can take a good quality product, and treat it with care and technique,” no matter how simple the ingredient may be, Irabién says. “It’s the core of any great cuisine.”

Even the pop up’s name brings to mind unpretentious care: Amparo is the name of Irabién’s mother and grandmother, and “fondita” is a word for an “unfussy” neighborhood eatery, he says.

A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, Irabién began his cooking career in French, Italian, and American restaurants before eventually turning his attention to Mexican cuisine. As the senior sous chef at Oyamel—Jose Andres’s Mexican restaurant in Penn Quarter—Irabién says he was exposed to a whole other side of Mexican dining.

“It had a snowball effect and it led me to research and learn more,” Irabién says of his two-year tenure with the team.

At the Amparo Fondita pop up, Irabién is aiming to broaden diners’ understanding of Mexican food and challenge the assumption that dishes have to be fried or pork-heavy. “It’s a little frustrating that the immediate picture of Mexican food is usually carnitas and cheap tacos,” says Irabién. “It can have a delicate flavor or be fresh and herbaceous.”

Ravioli de Huitlacoche (corn smut) at Amparo Fondita (Photo courtesy of Amparo Fondita)

The seafood-heavy menu was inspired by vacations Irabién took as a child to the Mexican coast. “Shellfish, clams, mussels,” he says. “It was always super fresh stuff. You’d be sitting at the beach and it’s hot as hell and you’re enjoying something cold and fresh.”

Dishes rotate nearly weekly but may include striped bass wrapped in collard greens with adobo, gold potatoes and charred guajillo peppers; a whole market fish with recado verde and tortillas; and Gulf shrimp with Maryland blue crab, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and salsa campechana.

Vegetarians will appreciate the number of meat-free options, such as the nopalitos (a dish made from prickly pear) and Oaxacan quesadillas. Additionally, the majority of the menu is naturally gluten-free.

Most ingredients are sourced fairly locally, including produce from Earth N Eats Farm in Waynesboro, Pa., and tortillas handmade from Manos de Maiz masa.

Brunch is available on the weekends and may include such dishes as creamy scrambled eggs with chorizo verde, potatoes, and chipotle crema; and rockfish ceviche over a crispy tortilla. Much like the dinner menu, Irabién aims to keep daytime fare fresh and on the lighter side.

“If you’re hungover, you can eat here and feel better when you’re done,” says Irabién. “You can have brunch and still hit the yoga mat.”

If, on the other hand, you’d prefer to take the hair-of-the-dog route, the bar is stocked with Latin American wine, Mexican-inspired cocktails from Luke Gossett of 1 Ounce or 2 cocktail collective, wild agaves, mezcal, and a Mexican fernet.

The White Mexican at Amparo Fondita, made with Don Amado Mezcal, the liqueur Suze, white vermouth, and manzanilla sherry. (Photo courtesy of Amparo Fondita)

Until recently Irabién had plans to open a more permanent location of Amparo Fondita in Mount Pleasant, but the opportunity fell through earlier this summer. “I’m not fully in the position to make the decision [about a brick-and-mortar location] right now,” Irabién says. Until then, he says he’ll continue to test recipes and challenge people’s ideas of what Mexican food can look like.

“I want to celebrate the things that are atypical to the American perception,” Irabién says. “I want to highlight things that are familiar in Mexico, but may be less familiar here.”

The Amparo Fondita pop up runs at District Space (3522 12th St. NE) through Sept. 30. Dinner hours are Wednesday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Brunch hours are Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.