Cochinita Pibil at El Centro

^{Photo: JOEL VEAK}

"I've been away for a while: what's new and good in Boston restaurants?" Food writers get asked this a lot, and it's our constant struggle to keep exploring every corner of the scene, to stay abreast of hot new chefs, neighborhoods, and culinary trends. Despite the feeble economy, new restaurants have continued to open at a brisk pace in Boston, especially in emerging hot spots like the Seaport and Cambridge's Area IV. Meanwhile, the South End, long a dining-out center of gravity, appears to have cooled a bit; the big, sleek spaces that once housed Rocca and Ginger Park remain shuttered, vacant.

Despite the neighborhood's relative sleepiness, El Centro (472 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, 617.262.5708) opened on a quiet residential block in May. It seems that chef/owner Allan Rodriguez - who, unlike many of his colleagues in the suddenly crowded Mexican restaurant market, actually hails from Mexico, specifically Sonora - struck a chord with his neighbors, who have kept his cozy, 50-seat space jammed from day one. Perhaps it's the obvious care that goes into the handmade tortillas with which he builds tacos ($5) overstuffed with fillings like carne asada (grilled skirt steak), tomato, onions, cilantro, and crema. Maybe it's the scent of fresh masa in his sopes ($6), chewy corn-dough tartlets with attractive toppings like adobada (pork marinated in tangy red-chili sauce), red onion, and lettuce. Could it be how eye-catching and substantial is his Ensalada Frida Kahlo ($11), a gorgeous mound of shredded chicken, asparagus, fresh chilies, and roasted corn bedecked with cilantro sprigs and fat slices of avocado?

And that's just lunch. The dinner menu features a heaping bowl of vivid-green guacamole ($9), topped with warm, crumbled Mexican chorizo, and the lip-stinging zing of chile poblano relleno ($18), a dark-green hot pepper roasted and stuffed with tomato sauce and cheese. Entrees include camarones al chipotle ($16), a fistful of jumbo shrimp in an intense, rich sauce of crema, smoked jalapeños, and grilled corn alongside a pile of seasoned rice. The chef's family recipes especially shine in dishes like cochinita pibil ($16), citrus-marinated pork shoulder tinted brick-red with annatto and roasted long and slow to melting tenderness. Its beautiful accompaniments include a stack of steaming corn tortillas, a fiery/vinegary slaw of onions, carrots, and jalapeños, and refried pinto beans that retain a lovely, chunky texture. There's a soulfulness in Rodriguez's cooking, a core of unmistakable traditional Mexican flavors that manage to elude the Yanqui-run joints around town. In a scene crowded with trend lemmings and bandwagon-hoppers, El Centro stands out starkly, a beacon of the real in a sea of faux-Mexican wannabes.