I have been a fan of Frontera since the mid-90s when Dick and Annalee came back from a Chicago trip inspired, armed with cookbook, and spreading the word. Where did I go eat when I was in town for my job interview back in 2000? Frontera - no way I could miss that.
I wish I got there more often.
Look, say what you want about big name star chefs, blah blah blah. I might even believe you in some instances. But Rick and Deann Bayless have done so many things right with their restaurants, and the food is marvelous. I sometimes think that they offer better seafood than any other place in town. I can recall a meal of shrimp eaten at the bar that I wish I could have again and again. Heck, I can recall a lot of dishes there, to be honest - and cocktails, and wine.
Ah wine. Of course Conrad and I love it. We plan vacations around it, for goodness sake. Scoff and say that Mexican food is suited only for beer or margaritas. I'll drag you down to the restaurants and let Jill have a go at helping you appreciate how well wine goes with these dishes as well.
OK, enough preaching. Let's cast back a couple of weeks to the last of the 2010 spring wine pairing dinners.
The dinners include a demonstration by Rick Bayless upstairs in the test kitchen. The crowd comes in, everyone gets a delicious margarita, and we watch a master. One thing that has always struck me in his cookbooks his what an excellent and enthusiastic teacher he is. Imagine that in person. He made a picadillo for us
(mmmm... picadillo), but the highlight was his demonstration of tortilla making.
I've made tortillas before. Now, thanks to that evening, I feel like I actually properly know how. I am such a chef geek, I know.
All of us got a taste of the demo-ed dish,
then we headed downstairs to the Morales Room where Jill guided us through a meal.
And oh, what a meal. Wines were from Peay Vineyards, and Andy Peay (gosh, I hope I got that right) was there to talk about them.The first pairing was my favourite, featuring a sunchoke soup and a Chardonnay. The soup was so lovely.
I don't say that because it had bacon, no. It was clean and tasty. Just right. Does that make sense?Tilefish up next.
Jill warned us that the fennel torreados had kick. Yep! Whoa. But in the context of the dish, it all made wonderful sense.Beef ribeye.
The poached egg always thrills me (it's how I order eggs for breakfast in restaurants usually), but I found the meat was quite exceptional. My third favourite dish. Soup was second. First was...Dessert. Mango and maple. Cake, ice cream, maple "whip". What was that anyway? Maple marshmallow, melted and bruleed a little?
I really do think it one of the best desserts we have ever had at the restaurant.The wine pourings were quite generous - relax, I was fine the next day - and we had some extra dessert wine and enjoyed chatting with Mr. Peay. Jill came by often, Rick Bayless came by to say hello to us all (a special thrill to Mary Ann, seated next to me).
But really, it was a fine collection of people not previously known to us at our table. Conrad and I were in the middle, so we had the happy advantage of chatting with everyone and enjoying it quite nicely. 
I tried to get David there on Saturday - too late in the afternoon, alas - so it may not be until the Foundation dinner in June that we head back there. A shame, but perhaps it's the infrequency that makes each visit to the restaurants such a treasure. Well, that and Jill,
about whom Conrad and I cannot say enough good.Go. Try wine with your food. Have fun!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment