Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill

Patrick Chicago, Mexican, Restaurants

I’m a huge fan of the Top Chef series and was even more excited about coming to Chicago to try to get a taste of Rick Bayless’ cooking after learning about him from the Top Chef Masters competition. He has quite a collection of restaurants in Chicago but I heard about one of his restaurants that you didn’t need to book one month in advance for, the Frontera Grill.

I organised to meet with a few friends there and we put our name down shortly at 6pm when they opened only to already be told that we’d have to wait at least two hours before we’d be seated. Fortunately I wasn’t so hungry from a very big brunch earlier in the day. We headed out to Sable for some drinks as the bar at Frontera was far too busy for our liking and returned when we were called about two and half hours later.

This is us dining after finally getting a table!

We ordered the sample platter of appetisers to share, a number of obligatory margaritas and of course a tamale to try. In most other places, mexican food tends to be a bit bland when served. What surprised me when we tucked into the platter was how everything that so much vibrancy, flavour and life. The dishes didn’t really blur together and each had very distinct flavours that you can try. There was even some ceviche on the platter (more peruvian than mexican) but I didn’t really complain as we ate it all. The guacamole tasted rich and went perfectly with the home-made corn chips.

I also wanted to try the tamales as I’d had one at a mexican take out place and was disappointed by the dry, cornmeal steamed around a pitiful amount of meat. Our waiter actually brought us the wrong tamale to begin with (a plain one) that actually had a lot of fresh flavours and was very promising. I’m glad that when the real chicken tamale arrived, I wasn’t disappointed by the bursts of flavours contained in the golden yellow husks.

For the main I had to order the pork mole, the more traditional of the ones listed on their menu. In total I think they had three or four different varieties including a green mole for fish, and a duck or chicken mole as well. I’m glad I went with this traditional dish, hoping to feel the rich, dark and complex flavours that mole is supposed to have and that Bayless delivered impeccably.

We split for dessert, the banana bread mainly because I really wanted to try it and figured I wouldn’t be back at the Frontera Grill for some time to come. It came with toasted walnuts, caramelised banana and some home made ice cream to provide relief from the richness of the entire dish.

I had high expectations for the entire experience and other than the having to wait for a table, the restaurant definitely delivered on all the points it was supposed to be. I can’t think of any of the dishes being flavourless and all of my friends also commenting on how great everything was.

Name: Frontera Grill
Found at: 445 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610, United States
Website: http://www.fronterakitchens.com/restaurants/restaurants.html

Chicago’s Stetson’s Steakhouse

Patrick American, Chicago, Restaurants, Steak

As part of the working week we had a group, my company organised for a dinner in the hotel we were staying at. The result was a dinner at the surprisingly inventive Stetson’s Steak house. We had the private dining room booked and they had a fixed menu for us with a number of alternatives to choose from. We also had two types of wines, but taking the chance, I asked for a glass of Zinfandel instead (which I got and enjoyed very thoroughly).

Our first cocktail was an inventive shrimp cocktail with shrimps almost appearing mutant size – they were really that big. It come straddled across a fresh tomato sauce with a background of wasabi kick and cleverly kept cold through some dry ice in the bottom container. Spectacular to look at and a very great combination to start with.

I opted for the lobster bisque that was a very good bowl of soup indeed. Nothing very surprising here but an extremely enjoyable bowl with lots of flavour.

They brought around tiny coronets of lemon sorbet to cleanse our palettes for the oncoming main menu. I wasn’t expecting this and was delighted by the zesty citrus flavours.

I ordered a 400g steak that arrived with a lovely BBQ sauce and they brought around a number of sides to go along with it including some onion rings, asparagus.

I had to try the mac and cheese as well though there was already a lot of food. The steak was perfectly cooked to medium rare and it was very deliciously juicy and meaty.

The cheese course arrived looking grand with an interesting assortment of prunes, fruit and honeycomb as well as some toasted bread to eat the cheese.

Dessert arrived in the form of a platter with tiny cakes and chocolate dipped strawberries. Too much decadence here but I couldn’t resist trying some of the cakes and blueberries.

I really enjoyed the dinner. Although I don’t know how much the dinner overall cost, looking at their website, the US$100 seemed reasonable for the sheer number of courses that arrived and the quality of the food. It’s definitely not an every day sort of place to eat. Or at least, not to do the tasting menu every day of the week but would definitely head back to have a steak there.

Name: Stetson’s
Found at: In the Hyatt on Wacker (151 East Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60601, United States)
Website: http://www.hyatt.com/gallery/stetson/index.html

Chicago’s Nomi

Patrick American, Chicago, Restaurants

Nomi, Not to be confused with the world’s number one restaurant in the world, Noma, you can find this Chicago based restaurant in the Park Hyatt Hotel offering effectively regionally sourced foods with the theme of being served from the “Kitchen” as you would make at home. Of course, it’s a lot fancier than that.

They served us a few rounds of some lovely crusty bread and butter. Unusually the butter tasted a lot more creamy than what you get in most other American restaurants (a good thing). I remember the bread being especially warm as well helping the butter to melt and to start our appetite for the things to come.

Opting for a theme of mushrooms, I started with the Forest Mushroom Soup. It arrived drizzled with truffle oil, and the perfect use of sourdough bread to provide crisp croutons to contrast the soup’s texture. Although still welcome to provide bite, the use of goat’s cheese to add salt and a melting creaminess seemed a tad excessive although the additional pan fried mushrooms were very good. The others split a plate of jamon iberico ham and cheese to begin.

The mushroom theme continued with the hand cut linguini served with black truffle cream, parmigiano-reggiano and fresh herbs. A generous serving of pasta with lots of cheese, but surprisingly light on the flavour. I expected more saltiness or sharpness from the cheese, and a rich earthy flavour from the truffle but both were a little bit too subtle for my liking. The truffle aoili chips we ordered to share was good and the pasta aided by a side of foraged mushrooms pan fried in probably a little bit too much butter.

My fellow diners ordered a wide range of dishes although I was only able to successfully take a picture of the skate ala plancha that looked amazing served atop its bed of dauphinoise potatoes and assorted roasted vegetables.

Our waiter teased us with a board filled with the offering of today’s tarts but we were defeated as a group to even attempt dessert. If I had space for it, I probably would have tried the brioche beignet although they had a huge menu to choose from. Not the cheapest of the meals I had, this one, even with two bottles of wine between the five us cost about US$98 including service.

Name: Nomi
Found at: 800 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611, United States
Website: http://www.hyatt.com/gallery/nomi

Drinking Spots in Chicago

Patrick Bar, Chicago

We went drinking a number of times in Chicago and although I neglected to take any photos, I would definitely recommend the following places depending on what you want:

  • Sepia – A great place to drink some interesting cocktails. We went here just after having dinner at Avec for nightcap and heading home. The interior is decorated like the 20s, or sepia tones with a great bar decorated with books and photography equipment around the place. Comfy lounge chairs welcome you to fall back and enjoy your drinks
  • Sable – We had a two hour wait before our table was ready for Frontera Grill so we went for a couple of drinks beforehand to Sable. This bar has floor to ceiling glass windows to the street and high chaired tables lining a narrow corridor. I believe this is the pre-drinking spot before people head into the restaurant although you can order food in the bar area as well. A very nice bar although the atmosphere is slightly ruined by the TVs showing sports behind the bar. What is with that? A great selection of cocktails and didn’t get a chance to look at the food.
  • Elephant and Castle – As one would expect from a place like this, a British themed pub serving British foods like Fish and Chips, Chicken Pot Pie and Irish Stew alongside a broad range of British and European beers and ales. The London Pride I had was pretty good although it was strangely super cold to the point of being almost tasteless. I had to let it warm up a bit to get any sense of the flavour).

Avec’s Spin on Mediterranean Food

Patrick Chicago, Dessert, Restaurants

I caught up with a number of friends for dinner the first night I spent in Chicago and they recommended the restaurant Avec. They recommended getting there early (6pm) that worked for me as I was still recovering from the flight and wouldn’t really last to a very late dinner. It’s a good thing too because like many popular restaurants in the town, they had a first come first seated basis.

The front door to the restaurant is rather discrete. Upon walking in, it feels like you’re entering a huge communal sauna where the entire room is wood-panelled including the tables and the major counter top. Putting my name down for the group of four, I sat at the counter and sipped on a glass of red wine from spain until the others arrived. I asked about getting something local (i.e. American) but they said that this was a mediterranean restaurant and thus only offered wine from France, Italy and Spain. Strange.

The others soon arrived and we were shown to our table that we split with another group sitting at the end of the large table side. A lot of the dishes had been designed for sharing and even though we ordered a number of large dishes, we still opted to split them as a group to try to savour and experience all that Avec had to offer. It worked for me. Our waiter came to recommend a number of dishes including a number of daily specials on the board.

We went for these chinese greens that were served with some toasted quinoa and had a great earthy nutty feel to them. It had a great mouth feel and gladly had not been overcooked.

Next up were the apparently famous chorizo-stuffed medjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce. Our waiter pushed us really hard to order more than just one of these dishes, but we only really wanted to try one each. Of course the date, meaty flavours mixed with the spicy tomato sauce worked really well but I remember this being particularly overseasoned and needing to reach for more water to quench the thirst.

We then tried the marinated hanger steak with lemon marscapone leeks, escarole and charred onion vinaigrette that turned out to be a perfectly cooked, slightly smoky piece of steak that disappeared rather quickly.

We also tried the crispy duck with toasted fregula and couscous, mustard greens, squash and egg yolk that reminded me of a Chinese style duck blended with mediterranean flavours. I really enjoyed the choice of the large cous couse here, and the egg yolk bursting to add a richness to this dish. The crispy duck added texture to the dish and, at the same time, was too overcooked to enjoy any of the duck flavour.

Ajit recommended ordering the “deluxe” focaccia with taleggio cheese, ricotta, truffle oil and fresh herbs. This bread, slightly slimmer than what one would expect from a Foccacia was filled with a creamy filling all full of great umami. Once again the only disappointment was how they went a bit heavy on the salting of the bread that was perfectly fine with out it.

Typically unable to resist desserts, my friends ordered some dessert wines and I opted for the hazelnut crumb cake with fennel creme fraiche, candied hazelnuts and butterscotch, a rich cake including a sweet sauce very well balanced out by the choice of a creme fraiche instead of whipped cream.

Overall a pretty good dining experience though not as perfect as I’d hoped after hearing all the reviews. I’d still definitely go back and try a few of the other dishes as I think the flavour combinations were pretty inventive and not what you would find in many other kitchens.

Name: Avec Restaurant
Found at: 615 W Randolph, Chicago, IL 60661
Website: http://avecrestaurant.com/

Clerkenwell’s The Green

Patrick British, Restaurants, UK

One of the great things about Clerkenwell is the number of quality places to eat out are. There are almost too many but this is a good problem to have. My flat mate had planned to have a Sunday lunch at St John’s but the big turnout forced him to pick an alternative venue, The Green that we’ve been to a number of times.

The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy so we had the entire top floor to ourselves where we indulged in many drinks and a sunday roast as the glorious March sun streamed in through the walls. We had quite a good choice of things to choose from the sunday roast including the rare roast beef (above), roast chicken (below), some lamb and pork although I didn’t catch any of the photos.

Of course a Sunday roast is incomplete with the traditional Yorkshire Puddings, and these were excellent – light, crispy and massively blown up. They obviously had the right technique for making them and I’m impressed they managed to pump out so many all being wonderful as well. The gravy was pretty good too.

Plenty of sides came along including brussel sprouts, turnips, carrots, beetroot and roast potatoes. I prefer my roast potatoes cooked with goose fat and I suspect they cooked theirs with olive oil or something as they turned out a bit more waxy than crisp on the edges.

Almost everyone ordered the hazelnut brownie with a salted caramel ice cream for dessert where they ended up running short.

I’ve eaten at The Green before and their food is consistently good and the bar reasonably spacious unless it’s a Friday pub evening. Try not to tell too many people okay.

Name: The Green
Found at: 29 Clerkenwell Green, London EC1R 0DU
Website: http://thegreenec1.co.uk/

Chicago’s Bristol

Patrick American, Brunch, Chicago, Restaurants

One of the final places I ate at during this trip to Chicago was The Bristol. It’s one of those places that focuses on nose to tail eating and the pig features heavily in their menu in a wide variety of forms. It’s not too far of a walk from Bucktown towards a more polished neighbourhood filled with high end independent stores.

As you can see from the picture below, they take their pig seriously.

I had a hard time picking something on the menu as I wanted to try quite a number of dishes. I think it’s the sort of place I could go back to. We were seated immediately at the bar, and I think was almost preferred to the crowded noisy shared tables behind us. We also got to see the bartender make some of his brunch drinks including the Bacon Manhattan we tried.

A mixture of bourbon, maple syrup and a bacon infusion plus a candied streak of bacon with oversized ice cubes worked up a charm. It’s not the sort of drink I would have too many of, but its a decadent drink that makes you think about what exactly a mixologist can make. A great balance and a perfect start to a brunch.

Here’s the crowd behind us.

Ajit ended up with the burger. Not a huge sized burger, but definitely a good portion size as well as the duck fat fries topped with parsley, salt and a number of other tasty seasonings.

Not content, I had to order another cinnamon roll just to try it from this place. As you can see, it seemed a bit more cooked and less fluffy as the ones we tried at ann sathers. In a way, I preferred this one as it focused more on the cinnamon flavour and the roll rather than the sweet glaze poured all over it.

I went for a braised pork chilaquiles, salsa verde, cilantro, lime, fried egg. Continuing on the mexican theme, what turned up was a soft pork belly bits of meat through softened tortilla chipps and lots of flavour all throughout. I put on quite a bit of the home made chilli sauce that was reported “very spicy” but turned out to be slightly more than a typical tabasco. Still a great addition to it though.

Name: The Bristol
Found at: 2152 N Damen Ave Chicago, IL 60647, United States
Website: http://thebristolchicago.com/

Brunch at Ann Sathers

Patrick American, Brunch, Chicago

Although London’s offering of great brunch places continue to increase, they still cannot match those on offer in some other major cities. Chicago has no shortage of these places and Gaz and Molly suggested a brunch catchup at Ann Sathers, who has four different spots about town.

They are apparently especially known for their massive cinnamon rolls (above) as well as other baked goods that you can order at the counter to go. The above two rolls came as a “side” to a pretty big breakfast offering.

We met at the Lakeview restaurant made up of two huge rooms constantly turning tables over but never feeling rushed. I think we met pretty early, about 10 or 11am to avoid queuing up, but there was a significant queue stretching out the door by the time that we left. The menu offered some pretty classic american fare ranging from the eggs benedict, omelettes and pancakes to a grilled breakfast including bacon and eggs.

I opted for a slight twist on the eggs benedict opting for the “southern style” where instead of hollandaise sauce, the poached eggs came with a gravy and in place of bacon, was an american style sausage patty. Yum.

It felt a bit lavish but went down a treat. It also tasted much better than what the picture shows above.

Name: Ann Sathers
Found at: 909 W. Belmont, Chicago, IL 60657
Website: http://www.annsather.com/

British Recipe: Scones

Patrick British, Recipe

I recently held a British themed party where I prepared a number of well known British bites. One of them had to be the scone, a classic that appears at any high tea event. There are dozens of recipes on the net, but I settled on this one provided by the Guardian (but minus the cream).

Ingredients:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 3 level teaspoon baking powder
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100ml cold milk

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a bowl
  3. Cut the butter into the flour, and then, using your fingertips to rub in any lumps
  4. Beat the eggs and combine with the milk in a separate bowl/cup
  5. Make a well into the flour and pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, cutting the wet ingredients into the dry with the knife until it comes together. Mix it together until it just forms together.
  6. Turn onto a floured board and then roll it out until it’s about 2cm thick
  7. Cut round discs and place onto a tray. Brush the top with some milk, or milk combined with egg. Combine any left over dough together, roll out again and then keep cutting until you have nothing left.
  8. Place into the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack or eat immediately with clotted cream and jam

The key to a perfect scone
The whole point of rubbing the butter into the flour is to avoid developing gluten in the scones. The light, crumbly texture of a well made scone is the result of the butter coating each bit of flour, unlike bread (high in gluten) where the flour is attached to eat other. You can alternatively use a food processor to combine it but that might require more cleanup. Similarly, when the wet ingredients are added, we want to avoid mixing it/kneading it too much for the very same reasons.

Some scone recipes call for adding cream + milk instead of cream. I’ve never tried it but apparently it develops a much richer flavour.

You also don’t really want to roll out the dough any less than 2cm as your scone won’t rise and it will be hard cut into half and have anything decent to hold onto. Avoid using out of date baking powder as it makes a big difference to the rise as well.

London’s Maltby Street

Patrick Markets, UK

There’s a buzz going on about Maltby Street, considered by many as the new Borough Market. Maltby Street is a stretch of road underneath the railway that leads to London Bridge. It was where Monmouth Coffee now roasts its coffee beans and where they first started selling their coffee on a weekend. There’s a bit of controversy that surrounds the market, after several people were evicted from Borough Market for opening up a store there. Although I read about this when I was in Germany, I haven’t had the chance to go there. Fortunately on this rainy, windy Saturday morning I was able to head there and check out the stalls.

The markets that surround Maltby actually sit on a number of roads, and the purveyors aren’t as numerous as at the nearby market. One of the most well known and popular places is the bakery arm of St John’s situated on the nearby Druid Street.

I’d been told about their delightful selection of donuts. Living just a stone’s throw away from the original St John, I’m already familiar with their delicious sourdough loaves and their traditional eccles cakes. Apparently you need to get there before 12 to get one of those donuts, so I made sure I turned up at 9 to get one. Okay, maybe a bit early, but worth it as there were plenty there.

I probably should have got a jam donut as well, but didn’t really want to be that greedy for the morning. A loaf of bread for later and a custard donut to go with the coffee.

Now what coffee you say? Well, Monmouth is located just around the corner. It was already busy with people by the time I go there. No crazy queues though like at its other outlets.

Maltby street has a number of other purveyors as well. Neal’s Yard Dairy is there along with a number of other store sellers. There’s the Kernel Brewery selling home made beers, a Polish sausage and Swiss cheese store.

I bought a wonderfully aged steak from The Butchery and stocked up on a number of fruit and vegetables at Tayshaw Limited. I think I got there maybe a bit too early as the other market vendors were just starting to set up their wares. It’s looking to be a promising place for purveyors of great food and I can only be encouraged by the place. It’s not the most convenient place to get there with public transport, but if you find you have time on your hand, I’d definitely recommend heading there on a nice day.

On, and the custard donut went down a treat. Light, not too sweet and delicious. Just the way a donut should be.