We're Ba-ack! Frontera Grill, Take Two!

Darlings, darlings, darlings!  We made it in! Lunch on a Friday at Frontera!  Admittedly, I was upset when I called yesterday to make a reservation and they said they weren't accepting any more.  But we arrived 20 minutes before the doors were set to open for lunch service, and we were seated right away!

Unfortunately the Chef (a.k.a. the Rick Bayless) wasn't in the dining room for me to photograph this time around.  According to his Twitter feed, it sounds like he's spending some time in Mexico.  Good for him...Chicago's weather lately has been far from ideal.

We ended up seated in the bar area (gorgeous! Absolutely phenomenal!).  And we got to see Alfredo again.  Now, I didn't mention Alfredo in my previous post.  But he was our waiter then too.  You can tell he loves being there, and believe it or not, he recognized us!  Once again he took great care of us...when you go, I'm sure any waiter would be fine, but I hope you get Alfredo.

As far as my meal, it was a mixed bag.  A delicious, phenomenal mixed bag.  I tried a new drink!  I tried a new coffee!  I had more guacamole and a tamal!  Here's the scoop:

Now, I read somewhere that a tasty beverage called "agua fresca" was "trending" right now.  I don't normally follow trends, but when I saw that there was an agua fresca on the menu, I had to try it!  It was a delightful passionfruit-orange spritzer.  It's pictured in the photo at the top (the drink to the left is my sister's non-alcoholic sparkling limeade, the middle one's mine, and the drink on the right is my aunt's zingy mojito...although tasty, not something I can order.  I just needed a third drink to balance the photo.  It's...nevermind...).

We got guacamole!  Ah, yes.  Delicious, velvety, perfect guacamole!  You've already seen pictures of it, so I didn't take another.  It's the same, and just as tasty.  (Plus, we'd already ravaged about half the bowl by the time I realized I needed to snap some blog pics).

My entree was a tamal yet again.  I know, I know.  For the sake of my dear readers I should be going out on a limb!  But it wasn't any tamal.  It was a duck tamal!

Delicious, luscious duck tamal at Frontera Grill on Clark St.

I have not ever had duck before.  (I know!  Gimme a break, already!)  It was delicious.  The meat was not seasoned to death; you could still distinguish its unique flavor.  The tamal itself was enrobed in a smooth, spicy sauce and topped with mushrooms (I ask you, could that get any better?).  A small garnish salad completed the dish.  The salad provided that perfect brightness needed to lighten up what could otherwise have been a really heavy dish.

The mark of a truly great restaurant is the ability to present a dish where there is nothing on the plate that the diner does not want to eat.  If the decorative banana leaf underneath my meal were edible, I would've given that a shot too.  Need I say more?

Now you know me, readers.  I tasted everybody's dishes too.

Pork tenderloin that unfortunately wasn't mine.

Mom and Dad both got a pork tenderloin dish that included some fantastic mashed sweet potatoes, spinach, and a deep, dark, savory sauce that I think was a mole (I'm sorry, I'm not absolutely sure!).  It was finished off with walnuts.  If I didn't consider emoticons to be poor blog etiquette, I would insert a smiley here.  I could find no fault in the pork tenderloin.  Except maybe for the fact that it was on someone else's plate.

Pork tinga tacos...before they become tacos

I had another case of food envy when I tried my aunt's pork tinga.  Slow-roasted pig with chorizo mixed in?  Ah-mazing.  The dish came in a boat, topped with fresh avocado, with corn tortillas on the side.

Mexico City-style cheese quesadillas with guacamole

My sister had cheese quesadillas.  But not just any.  They were Mexico City-style.  Think potsticker-shaped pastry filled with ooey-gooey Jack cheese and served with guacamole.  As someone who generally finds cheese quesadillas to be sort of blah, I have to admit I wanted to ask for a second taste.

But the fun was only starting.  Dessert was still to come.  I was being stubborn, and I thought I couldn't possibly eat one more bite of food.  Instead of a dessert, I ordered a beverage and offered to have a bite of my aunt's dessert.

I saw cafe de olla on the dessert menu.  I've heard this referred to as "cowboy coffee" by somebody...I'm not quite sure who.  It's a staunch brew, sweetened with Mexican piloncillo sugar and spiced with a heady blend of cinnamon, clove, and orange zest.  I had no idea how amazing it would be...I just wanted to give it a try.  It's now my new favorite caffeinated beverage.

Blueberry bread pudding.  Cue the applause!

My aunt had a blueberry bread pudding (Budin de pan) with a citrusy-tasting ice cream and granola crumble.  I'm a bread pudding fanatic, and although I already felt ready to explode, I have to admit I pretty much split it with her.

Lime flan (L) and caramel flan.

My mom and sister shared a duo of flans, one lime and one caramel, each topped with macerated raspberries and teeny-tiny sugar cookies.  The lime was unexpected.  It had the flavor of citrus while still feeling luscious and silken.  And raspberry-lime?  A match made in dessert-food heaven.

Chocolate cheesecake and coffee

And then we have the chocolate cheesecake...the chocolate cheesecake my dad ordered.  In a Mexican restaurant?  Yes.  Don't knock it 'til you try it.  Cookie crust, marbled vanilla and chocolate filling, served with a strawberry coulis and smooth strawberry ice cream.  Don't question it.  Just love it.  Put it this way, my dad was reluctant to let us taste it.  He wanted it all to himself...frankly, I don't blame him.

Our outing was capped off with a visit to Chicago's Art Institute to view the visiting Roy Lichtenstein exhibit, along with a stroll though Millennium Park to snap a photo in front of the Bean.


Lunch was hours ago, and I'm still full.  The verdict?  Success.  And now, on to the next spot.

Peace, Love, and Fabulous Eating,

~Amateur Foodie

Rick Bayless: Chef, Restauranteur, All-Around Cool Guy

Rick Bayless is known for many things: his television show, his award-winning cookbooks, and his line of chips and salsa.  But sometimes people forget that when it really comes down to it, he is not just "Rick Bayless, Cookbook Author."  He is first and foremost a chef.

The first time I ever saw Bayless on television, he was on an episode of Julia Child's show, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.  Out of curiosity, and literally just a minute ago, I looked up the original air date of this episode.  I was not even two years old when this episode debuted, my friends.  And Bayless had already been in the industry for a good ten years or more before that.  Obviously I didn't watch the show on its original air date, but I have seen it nonetheless, and it's really interesting to see that Bayless's take on food hasn't really changed much since then.

My real interest in Bayless's cooking came about as a result of his PBS show, Mexico: One Plate at a Time.  I love Mexican food, and it has always been fun for me to see how it is made.  I knew that he had two restaurants in downtown Chicago, Topolobampo and Frontera (he's recently added a third, Xoco), and ever since I really got into watching his cooking show, I had wanted to try the food at one of the restaurants, even though for some reason I thought I would never get the chance.

My opportunity came at the most unusual of times.  My parents and I had just finished a college visit at Loyola, and were looking for someplace to eat.  I casually threw out Frontera as an option, and my parents essentially said, 'Hey, why not?'

The first thing I noticed when we went inside was the look of the restaurant.  It is just cool.  Just inside the front door, there was an orangey-yellow wall festooned with paper monarch butterflies, meant to represent the migratory route that the butterflies take during the winter.  I mean, how awesome is that?!?

When you walk through the bar area (pictured at left), one of the more unusual pieces of decor are the large, brightly-colored statues perched atop shelves.  They are examples of traditional Mexican folk art, and I'm not entirely sure what they're called.  They look like demons, dragons, and animals, and as bizarre as they may seem at first, they are really beautiful.

There was about a fifteen-minute wait, even though it was about one-thirty in the afternoon on a Wednesday, but boy, was it worth it.  We were seated in a prime spot near the bar, in an elevated alcove where we could oversee the entire room.

The dining room is a cool space.  The walls are that same yellow-orange, which really gives warmth to the space.  The ceilings are industrial-looking, which works for me because it gives a certain openness to the space, which might otherwise have been overwhelmed by the rich paint color and vibrant artwork on the walls.

Now, since this is, for all intents and purposes, a food blog, maybe I should start talking about the food.

As soon as we sat down, we got a bowl of mixed...well, they weren't really mixed nuts.  There were pumpkin seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, and what looked like either lima beans or fava beans.  Whatever you want to call this mezcla, it was delicious, albeit screaming hot.  I do not know what they put in the seasoning, but it was so spicy that I probably downed about three glasses of water before we even got our appetizer.  I didn't care.  It was yummy, so I kept right on eating it.

For our appetizer, we had chips and guacamole.  There it is on the right.  You may think that chips and guacamole is, well, boring.  Maybe it's too predictable for you.  But to say that, you, my friend, would be wrong...so, so wrong.  The chips?  Made fresh in-house and just salty enough.  The guac?  Laden with cumin and unbelievably fresh.  The unroasted tomatillo and roasted tomato salsas that come alongside?  Acidic enough to lighten up the rich guacamole.  The price tag might be a little off-putting, but believe me, Bayless knows how to do guacamole, and it is a wise investment.  The portion was really perfect for my parents and me: enough to whet our appetites, but not so much that we had no room for our entrees.

I tried the tamal of the day (yes, perhaps tamale to you, but at Frontera, it's a tamal).  It was a tasty little packet of fresh corn masa filled with sweet, tender pork, and the whole thing was smothered in a smooth, sweet guajillo chile sauce.  It was served with a smear of black beans and a watercress salad (you read that right: watercress) dressed with a sharp, citrusy lime dressing that cut perfectly through the fatty richness of the pork tamal.  The guajillo sauce was so delicious, so well balanced, that I think I literally could have had it as a drink with my meal.

Halfway through the meal, my mom caught a glimpse of a white jacket.  With the demeanor of a twelve-year-old girl spotting the Biebs at the mall, she seized me by the arm and said, "Did you see him? It's him!"

I thought, no, that's probably not possible.  He's a chef, an author, a television show host...why would he be walking around his restaurant on a Wednesday afternoon in October?  But sure enough, Rick Bayless himself walked right past our table, carrying...his lunch?

And then something amazing happened.  Rick Bayless walked through the dining room of Frontera Grill, sat down at one of the tables, and ate his lunch.  I mean, how cool is that?  He's well-known nationwide, but he still sits in the dining room of his restaurant to chill and eat lunch.

I'll admit, I snapped a photo of Bayless (shown on the right) from across the room, probably much to the chagrin of the two women at the table between Bayless and myself.  But, after all, I am a huge fan.

I will never look at him the same way.  He is not some distant celebrity chef.  He's a normal guy, really.  A normal guy who just happens to own three restaurant spaces on Clark Street in Chicago, and whose food I just can't wait to eat again.  Be ready, Bayless.  I'm coming back.

Mexican Lunch in the Near North: Cantina Laredo

It was hot in the city of Chicago today, food fans.  It could've been worse, but it also could've been better.  And making the conscious decision not to take the bus has done a number on AF's feet.  Put it this way: I'm home now, and I'm wearing slipper socks.

We as a family hiked it all the way from Union Station to the Near North neighborhood, all in search of a good meal.  We really wanted to visit my buddy Rick Bayless, but apparently his place gets a little crowded on a Friday...darn!

We were en route to his tortas-and-caldos cafe, Xoco, but we were feeling famished.  We just happened to pass another Mexican place and decided to stop and rest our tired tootsies.  I felt like I was cheating on Frontera, but honestly, Cantina Laredo is a completely different story.

The entire place feels very chic and zen (not a bad thing, but I much prefer Frontera's splashy colors and cozy booths).  It is altogether modern and airy, with enormous windows all along two sides of the space that let in lots of sunlight.

But you're not hear to read a critique of the design, now are you, readers?

When you sit down, your server brings you crispy corn chips and two different kinds of salsa, one warm and one cold, neither overly spicy.  Pretty tasty.  But the party didn't start until we gave an emphatic 'Yes' to the server's offer of fresh guacamole.  We weren't prepared for what happened next.

A lady rolled a food cart to our tableside.  On the table was a basket of fresh avocado, and bowls of limes, roasted mild green chiles, red onion, cumin, salt, tomatoes, cilantro, and  jalapeño (there might have been some other stuff too, but I wasn't paying much attention.  You can pick mild or hot for your guac, and it is mashed and mixed right before your eyes.  Can you say 'awesome'?


The guacamole gets points just for being so darned fresh.  Plus it's fun to watch your food being made.


My entree was good.  I had enchiladas de barbacoa (really just enchilada de barbacoa, pictured below).  Pretty basic, it was a corn tortilla filled with pull-apart, juicy and delicious seasoned beef.  At Laredo, they top it with a ranchera sauce (tomatoes, garlic), plus chopped fresh cilantro (a must for Mexican food) and crumbled Chihuahua cheese. 

I really appreciate their decision to think beyond the arroz con frijoles most places decide to serve up.  Instead, each entree came with Mexican rice and sauteed zucchini.  I love zucchini, so I thought it was mighty tasty.


When we go out to eat, I'm usually lucky enough to get a taste of what everybody else is having.  This time, I got to try my mom's barbacoa tamale (they called it a tamale, not a tamal...that sort of bugged me) and my dad's entree, which was their fish special (grilled salmon with cilantro chimichurri sauce and cilantro rice).


The salmon was really good.  But I had always thought chimichurri was primarily made with parsley, not cilantro...maybe we're going for moderno, not autentico.


But I must say that tamale was disappointing!  The meat inside was flavorful, but the poor little thing was dry, dry, dry!  The masa they used to form the tamale was unseasoned, and the whole thing was crumbly and...blah.  Even the barbacoa inside, so delicate and tender when used to fill my enchilada, was tough and chewy (kind of like jerky...such a shame).  

I'm so sorry, Laredo.  Your enchilada was tasty but you killed your tamale.  I'll go back for your guacamole and enchiladas, and when I'm able to drink I'll try one of your mojitos (they were about a foot tall and looked wicked!).  But Frontera will always be my #1 in the Near North, and I'll always love their tamales more.  Lo siento...lo siento mucho.

**Side note: PEOPLE WATCHING: I didn't see Rick Bayless there, for obvious reasons.  But I believe I did see Chicago newswoman and co-host of ABC's Windy City Live, Val Warner, eating lunch a few tables away.  I didn't take any pictures of her.  I save that privilege for the inimitable Mr. Bayless.

Until next time, readers,


~AF