Pescado Veracruz, at Sam Fox's Blanco Tacos + Tequila.

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Oh, Sam, we're so sorry for doubting you. Mea culpa. Or — perhaps more appropriately — mea gulpa.

When we first heard restaurateur Sam Fox's latest eatery involved Mexican food, we were a smidge skeptical. How would the sophisticated-yet-simple, hipster style that has worked so well at Wildflower, North, Montana Avenue and the fleet of casual Sauce restaurants translate to humble, basic Mexican food?

Very well, actually.

Blanco Tacos + Tequila takes that trademark Fox style and kicks in an "olé." The sleek restaurant, all pale blue, chocolate brown and pumpkin squares, rocks a serious California vibe with walls of windows and a lovely wrap-around patio with comfy, royal-blue cushions. No mariachi music here. You're more likely to hear the Killers over the sound system. On one recent visit, breezes whipped across the patio, making the whole effect quite San Diego-like.

But our favorite design element? The rows upon rows of hanging lights that look a whole lot like those idea light bulbs that pop up above comic-strip characters' heads. Very prophetic.

Blanco is a great idea, and a welcome addition to the La Encantada restaurant scene. The menu, which covers everything from guacamole to cheese crisps to tacos and enchiladas, is basically Mexican, but — there's always a "but" with a Fox restaurant — with a contemporary twist. When have you ever seen braised short ribs on a cheese crisp? Imagine taking something so simple as a cheese-topped tortilla and transforming it into a crisp, flour tortilla pimped out with a variety of tastes and textures ($11): a salty medley of Oaxaca and Manchego cheeses; meltingly tender, homey short ribs; cilantro-spiked pico de gallo and buttery-smooth avocado chunks. We know good cooking is all about balance and tasting individual ingredients and blah, blah, blah, but, quite frankly, we would have loved it if those deeply flavored short ribs, so rich from long braising, slathered the whole crisp. Heck, we would have lapped the meat straight from a bowl all by itself with no accouterments.

Luckily, the house specialty enchiladas ($14), which charmingly arrived in a cast-iron skillet, offered another crack at those succulent shreds of beef. They were wrapped in corn tortillas drenched in a not-too-spicy ancho chile sauce and melted queso blanco. A side of buttery, corn-flecked rice and mild pinto beans rounded out the entree. A julienned carrot salad on one visit refreshed, but on another trip it tasted off, like something had gone bad.

It's hard to truly capture in words the delicious wonder of the crab roasted-poblano enchiladas ($16). Just the description made us want to lick the menu: lump crab, cilantro, sweet corn. The reality was even better. Lots of sweet crabmeat, dotted with tender corn and that distinctive taste of cilantro, was tucked inside corn tortillas, their edges cracklingly crisp from a pass under the broiler. Gooey cheese melted across the top softened the bite of the creamy roasted-poblano sauce.

You might do a double take on the burrito's $14 price tag, but the carne asada tucked inside was exceedingly tender, with a pure, simple grilled taste.

The dessert menu is short and sweet. Abuelita Angelina's rich chocolate cake ($5) had a mousse-y consistency and a crunchy chocolate-cookie crumb top. We weren't so wild about the chocolate sauce on the side, though, which seemed too bitter paired with the cake. If you love flan ($5), Blanco's is not to be missed. With its firm, silky-smooth texture and luscious, deep caramel-flavored syrup, this is the flan of flans.

Yup, Sam, we're sold.