Eat This Now: Biónico at Calacas Café

Dave Lieberman

Blame the ugly photo on the photographer, not on the food.

​Oh, the biónico ("bee-OH-nee-koh"), the best dish from any Mexican fruit stand. It's assorted chopped fresh fruit, topped with a tangy sauce made from fresh crema agria (Mexican sour cream), shredded coconut, granola and raisins. It's the best breakfast since chilaquiles were invented, and a great way to beat the heat.

Calacas, the Mexican heritage and gift store in the West End Theatre (which we're required to describe it as historic, or else we get tedious e-mails from people) on la Cuatro (SanTana's rapidly changing Fourth Street), just opened a café in the adjacent space, as Gustavo reported a few weeks ago.

They're still ironing out the kinks and getting ready for their grand opening, scheduled for next week--but the biónico needs no improvement. My awful picture, which I took as I tried not to display the fact that I was taking pictures, doesn't do it justice at all. It's a simple thing--just melon, strawberries and banana when I had it, but the fruit was perfectly ripe and juicy, and balanced beautifully with the toppings. Combined with a cup of very serviceable coffee (they hadn't made their café de olla yet), it was a perfect breakfast and a great use of seasonal fruit.

There are other items on the menu--licuados, aguas frescas, sandwiches--which we'll delve into after the official grand opening, but stop by and have a biónico--and then go next door and stock up on sugar skulls and pan de muerto molds before the Día de los Muertos rush begins.

Follow Stick a Fork in it on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook!