Where to: Qué Mas in Beverly.
Why: For Latin flavors from Alex Pineda (famed chef Lydia Shire’s son) and Noe Ortega in a well-known space with more Boston connections: Until recently, the airy and capacious address was Frank, from longtime L’Espalier chef Frank McClelland. Now, it’s just as airy and capacious, but there’s also a massive display case at the entrance filled with sardines that Pineda and his mom have collected from around the world.
The backstory: Pineda admits that he ate better than most kids growing up.
“A Sunday meal at my house for my mother and my father and myself was passed hors d’oeuvres, two different salads, three different proteins. She would always make some kind of cake, or a pie, or dessert. For me, that was very normal,” he told the Globe in July.
He went on to study at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, and later worked alongside his mom at Biba and Scampo, as well as with Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles and Heston Blumenthal in London. Pineda and Ortega, longtime colleagues, most recently cooked together at The Landing in Marblehead.
What to eat: Approachable flavors from Mexico, Peru, and more: “the lighter side of Latin,” as my dining companion puts it. Appetizers are otherworldly; our server, not a seafood fan, wisely recommends fried, cheesy, salted cod puffs rolled in honeycomb aioli ($16) and a sweet corn arepa with a buttery slab of burrata and sweetish sundried tomato pesto ($17), served in a skillet. There are also mussels in an anchiote coconut broth ($21); a daily ceviche ($23); and plantains, yucca fries, and grilled corn.
Larger plates are a tad tamer. Squid ink pasta with shrimp, garlic-chili bread crumbs, confit tomatoes, and shrimp butter ($32) is heavy on the butter, but light on the chili. My companion’s fried pork chuleta, a thick, pan-fried pork chop, ($34), gets a lift from pepperoncini and red onions. There’s also a signature burger topped with grilled pineapple and a fried egg ($21); brick chicken, also with a fried egg and sweet plantains (our server’s favorite; $34); and miso salmon with purple yam, taro chips, and kale ($33).
What to drink: Cocktails ($16) are smooth and revivifying: a spicy El Diablo margarita with fresh lime and hints of jalapeno; a Medellin Swizzle mixed with pineapple and a dark rum float. There are also $9 mocktails, made with watermelon and strawberry juices, and ginger beer, plus a compact list of wines by the glass.
The takeaway: A sunny, fun place to graze on appetizers and tropical drinks. Service is warm, too: After having left my credit card behind, a server offers to mail it (it hasn’t come yet, but hey; it’s only been a few days). When it does, I’ll think back to those cheesy puffs and plan my next trip north.
Qué Mas, 114 Rantoul St., Beverly, 978-330-1212, www.quemasrestaurant.com
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.