Hacienda Los Lingues

There are restaurants you visit and restaurants you return to. Hacienda Los Lingues is, after one quiet Sunday in San Fernando, very much the second kind.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: 16th-century hacienda, slow Sunday. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with a wedge of iceberg with blue cheese, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a quiet Brunello from the back of the list, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: lomo vetado, the dish that puts Hacienda Los Lingues on every short list. Was it the very best steak I have ever eaten? No. Was it among the dozen I think about most? Yes. The signature touch — the open hearth in the colonial courtyard — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for creamed spinach so rich it should embarrass us and broiled tomato with a breadcrumb cap. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was key lime pie, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

It is not cheap. It is, in this case, worth it.