BY ELIZABETH LENHARD
Out on the streets of Roswell, the beloved Freakin Incan food truck still slings papa rellenas and empanadas into cardboard trays. But, at the Freakin Incan storefront, which opened this past spring, chef-owner Mikiel Arnold has brought his street food in from the cold and classed up the presentation in a big way.
The crisp and airy yucca fritas, for instance, are stacked Lincoln Log-style on a gleaming white square plate, complete with a three-compartment porcelain dish for the spicy sauces. A sumptuous mound of mahi ceviche also arrives on shiny, minimalist porcelain, edged by foamed lime juice and artful piles of corn, some kernels crisp and others tender.
Maybe this simple, modern beauty shouldn’t make a difference in my enjoyment of the food, but it does. Because in every lovingly assembled dish, you can feel Arnold’s exuberance. Bursting out of the confines of his trailer means this chef — who interned at Lima’s Astrid y Gaston — gets to stretch, literally and figuratively.
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