A special delivery

This past weekend some friends of ours were returning home from a trip to Chicago and since we live on their way home, they were nice enough to special deliver dinner for us (keep in mind that we live in Southeastern Michigan, about 4 hours from Chicago):

Xoco and Sprinkles Cupcakes

The sandwich drowning in a spicy tomato broth is called "Torta Ahogada" but I prefer to call it "Torta Oh-My-God-A." It has pork carnitas, pickled onions, and black beans, but the magic of the sandwich is dunking it that spicy tomato broth.

Now those are great friends -- not only ones who are willing to deliver you dinner and dessert from four hours away, but who understand the mantra "Will travel for food."They didn't think it was the least bit crazy to deliver us dinner from four hours away. In fact, they suggested it. I guess that's why we're going to San Francisco with them in June - so we can eat our way from one end of the city to the other!

Chicago is My Kinda (Foodie) Town

Michigan may be my home, but Chicago feels like my hometown. It is a city I will never tire of visiting. Last weekend my husband and I drove to Chicago with some friends simply to eat and enjoy the Christmas spirit.

I am not ashamed to admit we ate at a Rick Bayless restaurant THREE TIMES in 36 hours. His food is just so incredibly magical. I could eat it every day and never tire of it. Jeff Bezos needs to forget about using drones to deliver my Amazon package in 30 minutes or less. I want him to deliver me some Rick Bayless food to my doorstep.

Some of the dishes you order from his restaurants can possibly incite a "Meg Ryan-like reaction", which is why we chose to eat there more than once. 

Here's the breakdown of where we ate while we were in Chicago:
Friday: dinner at Xoco
Saturday: Brunch at Frontera, dinner at Xoco
Sunday: Breakfast at Lyfe Kitchen, then trips to Sprinkles Cupcakes and Jeni's Ice Creams for some edible souvenirs of our trip to Chicago

At Xoco, I ordered my usual favorite sandwich, the torta ahdogada (that my husband has now renamed the "torta OhMyGod-a") which is pork carnitas and black beans, topped with pickled onions, swimming in a spicy tomato broth. We also ordered the guacamole which tells you right there how good the food is at Xoco -- I don't even like guacamole and I devour this stuff. I'd lick the bowl if I weren't in public. It's just so perfectly creamy and garlicky.

Top: green and red salsa and guacamole, Bottom: torta ahdogada, aka "torta OhMyGod-a"

At our brunch at Frontera I ordered the gorditas, which sounds like something you'd order at Taco Bell and then regret later, but at Frontera, gorditas are rounds of corn masa swimming in a black bean sauce. Each masa round then has a different topping: chicken, chorizo, and the most pillowy scrambled eggs I've ever eaten in my life.

Gorditas at Frontera with chorizo, chicken, and scrambled eggs

Inside Frontera Grill

And then finally, we culminated our weekend of eating at a trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes and Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, which just recently opened a location in Chicago. I am praying for the day when they open a location in Michigan. Their ice cream is so heavenly, as you might have already seen me write about it before here on the blog. This time we brought pints home of cherry lambic sorbet, white chocolate peppermint, and brown butter almond brittle ice cream.

It was a fun, delicious weekend had by all. My only question now remains, when will I be going back?

Oh how your food does enchant me Rick Bayless

This past weekend my husband and I, along with two of our friends, drove to Chicago for the day to visit the Christkindlmarket. We also decided that our short jaunt to The Windy City had to include a meal at a Rick Bayless establishment. Last November,  when NCTE was held in Chicago, I experienced my first Rick Bayless meal at his informal lunch-counter-style restaurant, Xoco (pictures in the link currently don't work. I'm in the process of contacting Flickr to find out what the problem is!) Over one year later and I am still craving that meal.

This time, instead of Xoco, we had brunch at Frontera Grill and I don't even know where to begin to describe what a delightful meal it was. Rick's food is sophisticated, yet rustic and unpretentious at the same time. He seeks to go beyond just the typical vision most people have of Mexican food that it's just tacos, burritos, and fajitas. In his travels through Mexico, he really sought to find all of the flavors and traditions, not just the typical ones most Americans are used to.

Our meal started innocently enough with guacamole. I would like to say for the record that I do not even like guacamole, but our friends ordered it and were over the moon that it was guacamole they've ever had. Since I'm not one to turn down an opportunity to prove myself wrong about a previous aversion, I decided to give it a try. And guess what? It wasn't just good, it was delicious. It was creamy and buttery and had just the right amount of garlic. The person who said she didn't like guacamole was proven wrong. Not only that but I am now craving it. I will drive to Chicago just for some of that guacamole.

In addition to guacamole, my husband ordered an appetizer of Mexico City-style quesadillas stuffed with molten cheese. And look what a cute, cozy package they're served in:

For my brunch I ordered the red chile meatballs cooked in a guajillo chile sauce, served with braised kale and crispy onions. And while it may look simple and rather bland, the side of black beans and rice I ordered to go with my meatballs was to die for. The flavor and texture of the black beans was perfection, something that many places often get wrong, making bland, mealy beans instead of the smooth and creamy and full of flavor beans Frontera makes.

Pork meatballs with braised kale and crispy onions

Simple yet perfect: black beans and rice

A pleasant surprise from our experience at Frontera was that Rick Bayless was making an appearance that day to sign copies of his new cookbook. So not only did we have a fabulous meal, but we got to meet a chef that I greatly admire. It was the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon in Chicago.

My husband and me with Rick Bayless

I still preferred the lunch I had a year ago at Xoco to the brunch I had last week at Frontera, but that is me being extremely nit-picky. Rick Bayless's food, no matter which restaurant you choose, is the perfect way to abolish any misconceptions you might have about what Mexican cuisine and flavors truly consist of.