and the best spot in STL to taste a full menu of traditional Oaxacan

ï BEST S ï NEW RESTAURANT Jalea

WRITTEN BY CHARLOTTE RENNER | PHOTOS BY MABEL SUEN

If there’s one thing you should know about Jalea – St. Louis’ sole cevicheria – it’s that it’s a family endeavor. Almost every family member has a part to play in running the restaurant, from management to bookkeeping. Chef Andrew Cisneros and his sister, Samantha “Mimi” Cisneros, own Jalea together; Andrew runs the kitchen while Mimi handles daily operations. The Cisneroses also run Brasas, a Peruvian rotisserie chicken pop-up, and recently opened Sanguchitos by Brasas inside of Perennial Artisan Ales in South City.

“I couldn’t do this without my family,” Andrew Cisneros says. “It’s a food group that we’re in the works of naming, and all [of the restaurants] are going to be under the umbrella of the family food group. I wouldn’t say Brasas is mine and [that] Jalea is mine and my sister’s; it’s all one. It’s all family.”

When Jalea fi rst opened in St. Charles in January 2022, the bistro-style restaurant had more of a focus on meat and served the popular lomo saltado (a beef stir-fry dish). Although Jalea has kept the bistro vibe, it has since transformed the menu to be more ceviche- and seafood-focused.

The restaurant’s namesake is a Peruvian dish consisting of fried fi sh, calamari or other seafood. “Our name is Jalea; we need to fi nd a way to make that the star of the show because this is why we created this brand,” Cisneros says. “We want people to start ordering it to pair with ceviche because that’s something that we saw was missing from the area.”

Ceviche is a traditional, fresh Peruvian dish made with raw, citrus-cured seafood. Jalea’s ceviche also includes mix-ins such as Peruvian corn, sweet potato, Fresno pepper, red onion and tiger’s milk. According to Cisneros, the tiger’s milk is the ingredient that brings the wow-factor for guests. It consists of lime juice, clam juice, peppers, ginger, garlic and a few other spices all blended together. “It’s spicy; it’s tangy,” he says. “It wakes you up.”

It’s possible that Jalea could expand to other parts of the St. Louis metro area, like Clayton or Ladue. Cisneros says the Jalea team is busy enough right now, but they’re open to possibilities. “If it’s the right fi t, I don’t see why not,” he says.

As for long-term goals, Cisneros says the key to success for Jalea is maintaining a passionate group of people to keep the restaurant in good shape for the next generation: “As long as we love what we’re doing, I could see us staying open for years. That’s really the goal – to keep this business running to hand off to our children or the next generation of Cisneroses. That’s one of the reasons we opened the restaurant.”

Jalea, 323 N. Main St., St. Charles, Missouri, 314-303-0144, facebook.com/jalea.stl MUST-TRY MENU ITEM: Jalea Cisneros recommends the cevicheria’s namesake: jalea. “Essentially, it’s what I call Peruvian fi sh and chips. So it’s fried fi sh, fried calamari and fried shrimp. Then it’s accompanied by our chips, yuca fries or plantain chips. We serve it with a classic tartar sauce and citrus-ahi mayo,” he says.

ï BEST S ï NEW RESTAURANT

La Oaxaqueña STORY AND PHOTOS BY MABEL SUEN

Yolanda Soriano fondly recalls learning how to cook at her mother’s side while growing up in Oaxaca and making tortillas and tamales from scratch with fresh corn masa. At La Oaxaqueña, she transforms those memories into new moments with her family and community by off ering a full menu of traditional Oaxacan cuisine in St. Louis.

“When I cook, I do it with all my heart; I have so many feelings,” Soriano says. “It reminds me of my mom and my family and how we used to be together before my mom passed away. It’s a good memory for me and reminds me of my childhood.”

Soriano’s mother died when she was only 13 years old, and her older sister was forced to step up as caretaker of the family. At the age of 16, Soriano came to the United States and worked in St. Louis and Illinois before se ling in the St. Louis area permanently. Over the years, she gained experience learning how to cook Tex-Mex-style cuisine while working at area eateries.

Those quintessential favorites make up a portion of the menu at the new South County restaurant, but it’s the Oaxacan specialties made from generational recipes that really bring something special to the table. “People come try [the Oaxacan cuisine] and like it; they say it’s really good and that it’s really diff erent,” Soriano says.

Molotes, for instance, are fried footballshaped masa fi lled with chorizo, potatoes and cheese and topped with refried beans, cabbage, queso fresco and salsa. The masa, which is nixtamalized and ground in-house, is also featured in other dishes on the menu, such as chicken tamales wrapped in plantain leaves. It also makes an appearance in picaditas, which resemble sopes and feature fresh blue or white masa topped with asiento (unrefi ned pork lard), refried beans, cheese, chopped cilantro, onions and salsa.

For Soriano, mole off ers one of the best tastes of home; she remembers enjoying it with her family on special occasions. La Oaxaqueña off ers amarillo (yellow mole), mole rojo (red mole) and mole negro (black mole) in various preparations, including served atop chicken breast with rice and corn tortillas. Each mole is chock-full of chiles, nuts, seeds, vegetables and spices and is slow-cooked based on handwri en recipes. The dish, which Soriano says requires lots of patience and love to make, is just one of the ways the Oaxacan chef carries on her family’s legacy with tenderness and respect.

La Oaxaqueña, 2925 Lemay Ferry Road, Mehlville, Missouri, 314-200-8212, laoaxaquenastl.com MUST-TRY MENU ITEM: Tlayuda According to Soriano, the iconic, traditional tlayuda is synonymous with Oaxacan cuisine. A large corn tortilla is fi lled with asiento, refried black beans, cabbage, avocado, Oaxacan cheese and salsa; it’s available with asada, pastor, chorizo or cecina.