Marrow Bone With a Mole Slather

TJ Steele

The Tuetano at Claro, a Oaxacan cuisine-inspired restaurant, is straightforward yet complex, rustic yet exotic. It stars a 12-in. custom-cut marrow bone that gets a slathering of housemade mole negro over the fat. “As the beef fat gets hot in the oven, it starts to cook the paste from the bottom, while the oven caramelizes it from the top,” says TJ Steele, chef/owner. For service, the Tuetano is garnished with fried shallots, garlic, sea salt and toasted sesame seeds and plated with warm, housemade blue corn tortillas.

This winning dish sells itself when it is paraded through the dining room. “Once someone gets one, everyone else has to order one,” he says. Apart from its eye-candy draw, its success comes from the lush combination of beef fat with mole negro, the complex Oaxacan sauce that combines the smoky, earthy notes of roasted chiles, nuts and spices with a touch of sweetness from dried fruits and Mexican chocolate. To level up the dish’s signature status, guests are encouraged to add boozy fun. “We recommend using the empty warm bone to shoot a shot of mezcal,” says Steele.

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