Once a fisherman, always a fisherman.

Baltazar Chavez grew up in Mazatlan, Mexico, harvesting giant blue Pacific prawns aboard his father’s oceangoing vessel. Back on land, he moved to his mother’s kitchen, where he learned to cook the maritime bounty, and to cook it well.

There was crab and lobster, halibut and snapper, scallops and octopus. He cooked them in stews, marinated them for ceviche, used them to fill tacos and enchiladas. He sauteed them in butter and wine, wrapped them in strips of bacon, swathed them in salsa and cheese.

Today he has brought those skills to Si Senor Mexican Cuisine & Spirits in the Bend Factory Stores outlet mall. The restaurant opened in early May.

“My mom and my grandpa taught me to cook,” Chavez said. “All of the men in my family were fishermen, so we ate seafood every day at my house. By the time I was 15, I was cooking for the whole family.”

Now 46, Chavez came to the United States when he was 18 and put his kitchen skills to work in Seattle-area restaurants. He moved to Bend in 1998, and in 2000 established El Pescador (“The Fisherman”) in Sunriver. In September 2006, the chef opened his namesake gourmet seafood restaurant, Baltazar’s, on Bend’s west side.

He closed El Pescador four years ago. As Baltazar’s is now managed by the owner’s brother, J.C. Chavez, its founder became able to pursue a new project. And Si Senor was born.

A genial welcome

Fans of Baltazar’s won’t be disappointed. Many of the same dishes offered for dinner on the west side are now served on Bend’s south side as well. And while evening prices remain high — “We have to pay for quality,” Chavez said — lunches are a bargain.

The owner is a genial host. His unmistakable presence bustles between the main dining room and the kitchen, where associate cooks from his Sunriver days continue to do magical things with frozen prawns flown directly from, you guessed it, Mazatlan.

Although Si Senor is located in a strip mall, the cafe has an unexpected atmosphere of spaciousness and elegance. Mood-setting original paintings and art sculptures of sea creatures adorn the walls, and a quarter of the room is divided off as a cocktail lounge, where tipplers can enjoy televised sports events without disturbing more quiet diners.

Chavez himself greets diners like family. Even first-timers from out of town, who walk in toting bags from nearby shops, are immediately identified as friends. Orders are taken and delivered in a timely fashion, and diners don’t even have to ask for automatic refills of water or salsa.

Maritime menu

A carafe of ice water and a basket of warm tortilla chips greet each table, even before orders are taken. They are delivered with cups of green and red salsas, the green (“verde”) more tart and spicy than the red (“rojo”).

My dining companion and I stuck with the red when we visited for dinner, satisfied that it had sufficient zing. Then we shared an appetizer — tostadas de ceviche. Three Mazatlan shrimp, cooked by marinating in lime juice, were laid upon a trio of mini tostadas (“tostaditas”) topped with a blend of onions, tomatoes and cilantro, and served with sliced avocado. It was a delicious start to our meal.

I stayed with the seafood theme in a combination plate with prawns, halibut and octopus. As “camarones Si Senor,” the savory baked prawns were wrapped in bacon, served with green peppers, onions and mushrooms and topped with melted Monterey Jack cheese.

Halibut is one of my favorite fishes, but its panko crust was just a bit oily, not as crisp as I might have liked. Still, the flesh was delectable. I was not as impressed by its topping of octopus “al ajillo” — sauteed with garlic after being boiled tender for three hours. Perhaps it was merely personal taste, but I found it to be mushy.

My entree, like my friend’s, was accompanied with black beans and white Costeno rice. These were far superior to typical frijoles (refried pinto beans) and tomato-doctored Spanish rice served at a majority of the region’s Mexican restaurants.

For her entree, my companion combined an order of carne asada with a chicken mole enchilada. The former item, a nicely seasoned skirt steak, was char-grilled medium rare and served with a side of guacamole. The enchilada revealed a delicious mole sauce whose semi-sweet chocolate flavor far outshone the flavors of peanuts and pumpkin seeds, also commonly used in mole recipes.

Lunch options

On a return visit for lunch, I opted for Pollo a la Crema — boneless breast of chicken, sauteed with carrots, mushrooms, celery and onions, again served with white rice and black beans. A mildly spicy sour cream and chile sauce brought this dish to life with a flavor that continues to make me salivate even as I write about it.

My companion created her own deluxe combo, as described on the Si Senor menu, with a taco, tamale and chile relleno. Although the beef taco was the least interesting of her three choices, it was still delicious, served “al carbon” style with meat marinated, broiled and chopped, served in a soft corn tortilla with tomatoes, spring onions and cilantro.

The tamale, steamed in a corn husk, featured a generous portion of pork rolled within a thick layer of masa dough. My friend and I both prefer our tamales to be a little less doughy, but the portion was so ample, we really couldn’t complain.

Best of the combo was the relleno, a roasted pasilla pepper stuffed with white jack cheese, rolled in egg and baked, then topped with a creamy sauce.

The menu also features a “seafood relleno,” in which two peppers are filled with chopped prawns, scallops and halibut, then topped with the melted cheese and sauce. That sounds like a great way to combine the flavor of a knowledgeable kitchen with the fine touch of a fisherman.

Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com