La Madonna

So there we were in La Madonna, and here was a couple coming and promptly going because there weren't any fajitas on the menu, and all I could think of was another local restaurant, Quinta Belina, which had a regrettably short life.

Quinta Belina's chef/owner was an enthusiastic Mexican native who knew her cuisine and was excited about bringing it to the increasingly sophisticated dining community in Las Vegas. Her food was wonderful, but in an awfully short time -- I'm thinking a year or two, at most -- she gave up and returned home, disillusioned and defeated after more than one of those "sophisticates" told her her food wasn't authentic Mexican because she didn't use Velveeta.

True story.

Cut to La Madonna, which tries to warn the cheese-food crowd with the subtext that its cuisine is "avant-garde" and maybe it is, but only in the way that creative, skillfully prepared food is more avant-garde than, say, the characterless crap that still passes for Mexican food in much of the United States. And I make that point because "avant-garde" tends to scare people who start envisioning the things they've heard about on those TV shows that purport to be culinary world tours but rely mostly on shock value. And there's no reason to be scared of La Madonna.

Yes, there's user-friendly stuff like shredded beef enchiladas on the menu, and fish tacos, but more on those later. I'll start with the starters, which are more representative of the dishes that earn La Madonna its avant-garde 'tude.

The Mexican-style crab cakes ($14), for example, which were way more crab than cake. And -- in a brave move rarely, if ever, seen elsewhere -- each cake was topped with three big lumps of pure, sweet crabmeat, just in case their consumer wasn't yet a true believer. The border-bending chipotle aioli on the side was the perfect touch.

Then there were the shrimp tamales ($12), topped with firm, grilled shrimp and accompanied by a roasted corn relish.

And lest you think things are a bit on the pricey side at La Madonna, rest assured that that's because our starters were so seafood-centric. Those fish tacos, for example, were a $16 entree, and were three pliable white-corn tortillas folded around thick fingers of fried mahi mahi and topped with the requisite shredded cabbage, plus a bright cilantro-flecked pico de gallo and a jalapeno-infused sauce that did much to make its presence known.

I didn't get much of the shredded-beef enchiladas ($16) because my co-diner who doesn't like Mexican food was too busy scarfing them, but I snagged enough to know the beef, cooked long and gently, was tender and moist, its flavor emboldened by roasted tomatoes.

Besides, I was busy myself, sipping my fruit-heavy (that's a good thing) house-made red sangria ($6) to quell the fire from the tacos, and digging into a fresh-corn tamale ($6) sweetened with honey butter. Like our other tamales, it was served with the corn husks and masa opened to reveal the good stuff within.

Flan? Are you crazy? It was tempting, but there was no way, especially after we finished the plate of tortilla chips with three salsas -- tomatillo-avocado, roasted-tomato and chipotle.

But we know we'll be back for more. The twinkling punched-tin stars, red accents and rustic-wood tables and friendly and efficient service completed the picture for us.

Avant-garde? Depends on your perspective, I guess. But I do know that La Madonna strikes the right balance, a winning combination of the innovative and the familiar.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.