Get spicy with Mexican cooking and Chilean refreshments.

Traveling in Australia can make an American hanker after Tex Mex like no other. It could have been the three weeks of driving on the opposite side of the road or that it rained the entire time of my visit for the first time in a four year draught, but my time in the Land Down Under was a unique experience overall.

One particular blemish of the trip was the lack of options for a gal to get her enchilada fix, which could be blamed on the popular Aussie misconception that Southern California is in Mexico.

Like any patriotic tourist, I returned to Seattle and inhaled a copious share of Mexican-influenced fare to calm my nerves all while at a local cantina that I could walk to in order to work off the excess calorie intake.

The Restaurant: Laredo’s Grill — Part-timing as local Texas Longhorn alumnus’ game day solace, the Queen Anne gaucho saloon also pumps out Tex-Mex lunch, dinner and a rocking two-a-day happy hour. The food is seasonally rotating with a few mandatory staples that owner Jose Betancourt labels as “cowboy-like” cuisine for his cantina. Rustic and reverent to Northern Mexican grub, Laredo’s provides a spicy dose any Seattleite will continue to crave when away.

The Dish: Tacos Al Pastor ($11.50) — The house specialty, the Mexico-city style Al Pastor marinated pork is layered up on three corn tortilla tacos with rice, beans and vegetables and coyly resembles its sister dish of Middle Eastern schwarma. Tacos Al Pastor translates into “shepherd’s tacos” where the meat is shaved off of a skewer and onto the platter for your eating pleasure.

The Variety: Carménère — Loosely meaning crimson, the deep red grape is considered to be the lost varietal of the noble grapes of Bordeaux, also including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and its South American commercial counterpart of Malbec. Outside of Medoc, Bordeaux, Carménère is often seen in Chile. Cuttings of the grape vine was imported by Chilean farmers in the 19th century when they thought they were getting Merlot to begin with. Similar but distinctly separate, Carménère brings a ripe and spice quality to its name that makes it stand out from its other Bordeaux siblings.

Why It Works: Deep and fruity with red berries, smoke, earth and black pepper spice, Carménère has gentle tannins and a medium body. Its weight and texture on the palate gives it some pairing flexibility but when it comes down to it, its spice allows it to make that of a Tex-Mex dish.

The Recommended Drink Match: Viña Carmen 2008 Carménère Gran Reserva, Apalta Valley, Chile ($11) —  Loaded with cinnamon spices, cigar box aromas of cedar and smoke with fresh red cherries and raspberry, this Carménère has a backbone based on black pepper and ripe fruit.  Appealing to Merlot drinkers and Cabernet Sauvignon fiends alike, the texture is soft, with gently present tannins and a lush, medium body. They originally named their winery after the grape variety they do best and for the price, it’s unmatched.

Laredo’s Grill  |  555 Aloha St. #100, Seattle  |  (206) 218-1040