 Photo by Wes Naman
By Neal Anderson
Tucked into the row of turquoise-roofed shops of Laramie Square on San Mateo, Café Choroni
serves up a little slice of comfort with the flavors of South America
and Italy — even New Mexico is tossed in there for good and flavorful
measure.
Owners Nemo Morantes and Carlos Figueredo have bet that Albuquerqueans will come to embrace their family-run breakfast and lunch spot (a.k.a. - arepera), which naturally sells arepas, the corn-based bread staple of Colombia and Venezuela.
According to the cafe’s menu, arepas are “made with corn instead of wheat, and molded into a flat patty which can be baked, grilled or fried. The arepa is split after cooking, and filled with your favorite ingredients like
cheese, beans, avocado, shredded beef or chicken, pork and deli meats.”
With that delicious scenario in mind, I recently ordered up lunch with an amigo to try this eatery, which
operates six days a week.
Cozy and soothing are the first two adjectives that come to mind when describing the cafe’s decor. Decorated with subtle, warm earth tones, as well as a nod to its South American heritage (a portrait of independence hero Simón Bolívar hangs on the wall), the cafe invites you to hang out for a while.
Although customers at Café Choroni normally order at the cash register, Morantes warmly welcomed us to his establishment by taking our orders at the table.
 Photo by Wes Naman First up were drinks. My friend ordered an iced tea ($1.75), while I had my taste buds set on something a little more exotic since the menu touted its tropical juices at $2 a pop. A large glass urn with russet-colored liquid looked intriguing. Morantes says the restaurant buys the frozen pulp of the mamey fruit, which yielded a refreshing and not overly sweet flavor, although it was rather thick and had me wanting to dilute it with water.
Our orders came out fairly quickly, even though I went back and forth on what kind of arepa to order, also briefly considering the cachapas (sweet corn pancakes with butter). Café Choroni offers 12 varieties of filled arepas, including shredded beef and chicken, tuna and what it calls Perico-style eggs, which are scrambled with tomatoes, onions and peppers.
I settled on the Reina Pepiada Arepa ($4.95) with side orders of black beans and white rice ($1.95). This arepa was stuffed with chicken salad and avocado, and came wrapped up in paper to make it easy to hold. The arepa wasn’t quite what I expected; it reminded me more than a little of an English muffin. But I came to like its thickness and chewy texture. I also enjoyed the chicken salad filling well enough, although added seasoning would have been more to my liking. I also appreciated the small chunks of potatoes (or maybe it was starchy yuca?) that jazzed it up a little. It’s definitely not your everyday chicken salad.
The accompaniments of rice and beans were excellent mates for the filled arepa. The rice grains were fluffy and perfectly cooked, and the black beans weren’t too mushy and had a delicately seasoned flavor. So next time, I’m ordering más por favor. Homey simplicity at its best.
My friend ordered the Burrito Choroni ($5.99), which offers a choice of shredded beef, chicken or pork, along with sweet plantains, black beans and the Perico-style eggs and cheddar cheese. It came with an order of not-too-spicy aji sauce, a creamy and yellow mayonnaise-like condiment.
 Photo by Wes Naman My pal was far from disappointed, pronouncing it simply “delicious.” Exercising my restaurant reviewer rights, I sampled a hefty morsel as well. I liked the combination of savory and sweet flavors and his choice of pork won me over, too. If it weren’t for some self-restraint, I would have taken a larger chunk.
You can build your own burrito, too, at Café Choroni. For a very thrifty $5.99 you can try your own custom combination wrapped in a tortilla with choices of eggs, shredded beef, chicken, pork, black beans, rice, sweet plantains and white cheese.
A return visit to the arepera yielded another satisfactory experience. This time the object of my desire was the Cuban Panini, which is available in 4-inch ($4.85) and 8-inch ($6.99) sizes. The larger, generous size makes it perfect to split with a fellow diner. Drawing inspiration from the Cuban sandwich beloved in Miami and Havana, this grilled panini serves up ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese and a tomato slice nestled between slices of ciabatta bread. Tangy aji sauce and a smattering of diced onions complemented the rustic flavors and a side of not-too-greasy sliced plantains brought some sweetness.
A cup of warm coffee ($1.89) to go had a nice, mild flavor but going out into the winter cold, it would have been nicer to have it steaming hot.
If you’re wanting to stretch your dollar with something a little different, try an arepa, panini or burrito during a lunch visit to Café Choroni. Or, shake up your morning routine with some savory eggs or sweet corn pancakes. Either way, it would be good to give this rare South American-focused restaurant some of your attention.
Café Choroni
3120 San Mateo NE, 505.554.3311
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 8a-3p
cafechoroni.com
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