Spending Cinco de Mayo at Topolobampo and Frontera in Chicago
It’s fascinating to me how a ‘gringo’ (white man) can be so good at cooking Mexican cuisine that he has a four-star fine dining Mexican restaurant (Topolobampo), a more casual Mexican
restaurant (Frontera), TV show and appearances on Food Network and PBS, cookbooks and a line of Frontera sauces and salsa. That’s Rick Bayless! His new venture, XOCO, right beside Topolo and Frontera is the latest talk in (Chicago) town. XOCO serves mostly breakfast and lunch, a casual torta (sandwich) and churros and hot chocolate. How more temping can it get to see the staff frying churros and dunking them in cinnamon sugar through the glass window?
I went to Topolo on Cinco de Mayo eve for lunch, which was the only reservation I could get online. It’s hard to get into his restaurants. I started off with a Sopa Azteca - a dark broth flavored with pasilla, grilled chicken, avocado, Jack cheese, thick cream and crisp tortilla strips.
My entrée was Carnitas de Puerco - pork shoulder and pork belly (slow-cooked confit-style) with fresh green tomatillo-avocado salsa, homemade tortilla, lime air, radish. The lime air was pretty interesting, an airy-like fluff of mouse that has a hint of the taste of lime. The staff was friendly, they didn’t rush me (to turn tables) even though I was there just by myself and stayed there for about 2 hours!
After two margaritas, a starter, an entrée plus a dessert, they reckon I must be having a good time.
The next day on Cinco de Mayo night, I waited in line to get into Frontera for dinner. I was told that if I get there just before 5 pm, I would have a good chance to get a table at Frontera. I love the appetizers at Frontera. This is my second time at Frontera and I must say that I probably enjoy ordering more appetizers and sampling more of those fabulous dishes, than ordering the entrées.
My dining partner and I started off with a trio of ceviches: Ceviche Fronterizo - blue marlin with tomatoes, olives, cilantro, jcama and green chile; Ceviche Yucateco - shrimp and calamari tossed with lime, orange, habanero, avocado, jicama and cilantro; and Coctel de Atun Tropical - yellowfin tuna cocktail with
chunky avocado-tomatillo guacamole and tangy mango-grapefruit salsa. This trio sampler is a great way to try all three great ceviches. We also had another great appetizer on masa cakes (don’t remember the name, I can blame that on the margaritas).
However I did take a picture (see photo). It was absolutely heavenly!! Following that, an order of Jicama Callejera - crunchy jicama, cucumber and pineapple with fresh lime and crushed guajillo chile, very refreshing. Our entrée was their daily special - Chile Relleno, which was good but not fantastic. I guess I still prefer chile relleno without the thick layer of flour coating, so that it doesn’t musk the lovely sweet flavor of the chilli and the fillings.
All in all – great meals at both restaurants and I would definitely go back to Frontera again. Sit at the bar, have a couple of margaritas and a few appetizers! ;-)
