The Home of a Master: Dinner at Frontera Grill

In case you haven’t realized, I have a great deal of pride for my city (and of course its surrounding areas). Chicago, I truly believe, is one of the best cities in the world, complete with some of the best restaurants in the world. Granted, I haven’t been to many restaurants in other countries, but hey, a point is a point.

When Top Chef Masters first aired at the beginning of the summer, I was filled with Chicago pride as one of my favorite Chicago chefs, Rick Bayless, was in the lineup. Rick’s restaurants, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo (and the soon to open Xoco) have been in Chicago for years, and I believe Frontera was the first restaurant I ate at where I was star struck when I met the chef more than 9 years ago.

Once Rick Bayless won the Top Chef Masters challenge, we all started talking about going back to Frontera. Adam had never been there, my friends had never been there, and my family hadn’t been back in years. With my mom’s best friend’s (who’s more my aunt) birthday yesterday, she made the executive decision that last night was the night!

We met up out front just before 5 p.m. and were told that we would be the first large party seated in the second seating.

That’s mine on the left with no salt. The tall glass was just the limonada, sans tequila, for our resident adorable 4-year-old.

While we were enjoying our margaritas, my mom’s best friend’s brother (who is more like an uncle than any blood family I’ve got!) helped me with my little point-and-shoot camera, as photography is his expertise. I can’t believe the quality of pictures I was able to get in the super-dark restaurant. Thanks Jim!

We all shared some guacamole, chips, and salsa while we waited.

The decor in the bar was fascinating to me, being the Mexican-culture-Spanish-teaching-nerd that I am, so I made sure to take some pictures to share with all of you. Most of the art is from Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-ha-ka) Mexico, and is characterized by its bright colors and whimsical themes.

Two margaritas, two hours, and a few slightly tipsy pictures later…

We were finally seated at one of the outdoor tables. Hi Mom & David!

There were more margaritas poured (which brought my total to 3), and appetizers ordered. The photos are followed by the menu description of the dish in bold, and then my thoughts/opinions.

Queso Fundido de Tasajo: Otter Creek Farm organic cheddar melted with wood-grilled tasajo (Oaxacan thin-slice lime-and-salt-cured beef), smoky Oaxacan pasilla chile, caramelized onions. Queso Fundido means “melted cheese”, and this was quite possibly the most complex melted cheese dish I’ve ever had. It put any other spicy cheese dip I’ve ever eaten or cooked to shame.

Tlayuda Oaxaquena: wood-grilled tortilla crisped with pork cracklings. Topped with black beans, chorizo, avocado salsa, frisee-watercress salad. Again, while this looks like your average tostada you could get at an average Mexican restaurant, the layers of complex flavors and textures just blew me away.

Flautas de Tinga de Pato: crispy rolled tacos filled with Gunthorp duck tinga (potatoes, chorizo, caramelized onions, chipotle chiles), doused with tomato-chipotle sauce. Avocado, homemade fresh cheese, “shoots” salad. The amazing thing about this dish is that while it LOOKED a lot like other dishes on the table, all the flavors were completely different. The sauce was sweet and spicy, and the avocado cooled the spice nicely. The “shoot” salad on top was a nice crisp contrast.

Enchiladas de Coloradito: homemde tortillas rolled around Maple Creek Farm braised pork shoulder and bacon, doused with classic mole coloradito (ancho chile, sweet spices). I could’ve eaten this as my dinner! The tortillas, when they say they’re fresh, they’re house-made and soft, and the sauce did its job to complement the fillings. The cinnamon in the sauce was quite prevalent.

Then came the entrees. There were a couple I didn’t get pictures of, but I did get to taste them all. They each were spicy in their own way, comforting in their own way, and completely delicious.

My mom’s dinner, (bottom) Cazuela de Pollo con Crema: casserole of Oaxacan-style oregano chicken, cream, roasted potatoes, grilled local summer squash and guero chile rajas and (top) Tamal de Mole Amarillo: banana leaf-steamed tamal of fresh-ground corn masa (infused with guajillo chile) and Gunthorp chicken. Topped with mole amarillo (flavored with herby pitiyona), peashoot salad. I tasted both of these, and they were both complex and delicious. The “cazuela” was like the best pot-pie I’ve ever tasted, and the tamal was different than any I’ve ever had. It was both spicy and sweet, and the corn masa outside soft and creamy.

My dinner: Pato en Mole Negro: adobo-marinated Gunthorp duck breast in classic Oaxacan black mole (made from chilhuacle chiles and 28 other ingredients). Black bean tamales, garlicky braised black kale. The first time I went to Frontera, many years ago, I remembered how delicious the duck was, so I had to try this dish. The kale was tender, and its slight bitterness complimented the intense mole and mellow duck breast, and the black bean tamales are what I’ll be dreaming about in weeks to come.

Adam’s dinner: Falda asada brava: spicy serrano-marinated grass fed flank steak (from Bill Kurtis’s Tall Grass) with spicy salsa huevona (hand-crushed, grill-roasted tomatoes, jalapenos). Grilled knob onions and sweet corn tamales (topped with homemade sour cream and fresh cheese) Wow. Just wow. Adam doesn’t rave about food, and all he could say was that this was one of the best steaks he’s ever had. The sweet corn tamal (in the back, on top of the knife) puts any sweet corn pudding I could make to shame!

And Eo’s dinner: Tamales de Calabacitas en Mole Verde Oaxaqueno: savory tamales of fresh-ground corn masa and shredded calabacitas in Oaxacan green mole. Fresh cactus (nopal) salad. These tamales were filled with “calabacita” or “small squash” and topped with a mildly flavored and spicy green mole. I didn’t get to try the nopal salad, but it certainly looked delicous.

We all ended up getting dessert, especially after we were reminded of the amazingness that is Frontera’s chocolate pecan pie. Eo got her own special dessert (sorry about the upside-down picture)

We also got some of the house special flan to share:

That’s passionfruit on the left, and caramel on the right.

I got my own chocolate pecan pie to share with Adam, and that lovely whipped cream on the top? That definitely has Kahlua in it!

Happy Birthday Eo!!! Thank you so much for including us in your birthday celebration! It was certainly a night and a meal to remember. I hope you had as much fun as I did

I’m challenging myself today and finally cleaning (or at least starting!) our second bedroom/my storage closet. It’s been a mess for 3 years, and I’ve got to do something about it. I have DVDs to watch and tons of garbage bags ready to fill for charity.

Don’t forget to enter my Tropical Traditions Raw Honey giveaway! The winner will be announced tomorrow evening.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

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