Review Preview: Milagro Modern Mexican

Corn smut! It's fun to say -- and delicious to eat. It's one of several surprises in store at the intriguing new restaurant Milagro Modern Mexican (20 Allen Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-962-4300). Join me after the jump for a sneak preview of my review.

Corn smut is a fungus that blights corn, causing husk-busting growths that look as if they should be floating in jars in a mad scientist's lab. In Mexico, where it is called huitlacoche, corn smut is a delicacy. You rarely find huitlacoche on the menus of Mexican restaurants in the United States -- certainly not here in St. Louis, where making a margarita with fresh-squeezed lime juice and Cointreau rather than pre-made sour mix and no-name triple sec is considered edgy.

Now, however, at Milagro Modern Mexican, which opened in April in Webster Groves, you can order two dishes featuring huitlacoche: quesadillas tradicionales and enfrijoladas de hongos.

Visit the RFT restaurant page late this afternoon or check back here tomorrow morning to see what I think.