Topolobampo with Matt and Michael

Here we go, the first great meal of a handful of great meals during the recent visit to Chicago.  Dinner with Matt and Michael, a Thursday night meal at one of my all-time favourite restaurants in Chicago:  Topolobampo.

I have dined at Topolobampo and its sister, Frontera Grill, multiple times over the years.  When last I was there, it was November of 2021 (I think), and a celebration of both Chris and Rachel's 50th birthdays that month.  We had a very fine evening.  Last Thursday was no less fine.  Quite the contrary.  It was an extraordinary way to start off the conference trip.  An awesome meal at Rick Bayless' fine dining room, two terrific guys for company?  Yes, please!

I met Matt and Michael outside of the restaurant

on a fine, not yet too hot or humid Chicago evening.  The original plan for Thursday was to have Peter and his Matt join us for dinner that night - we would have had 3/4 of our guybrarian text thread there - but perhaps elsewhere.  When Peter let us know that he and Matt wouldn't be arriving in time for dinner, we pivoted a little and landed on Topolobampo.  Matt and Michael were very game, and so we made the reservation.  I was delighted to join them for their first time there.  What fun company for a good, leisurely meal.

We had cocktails to start, and - shockingly, I did not order their classic margarita as I so often have before.  I've been more spirit-forward in my cocktails lately, and opted for the Poleo Negroni, made with mezcal.  A good way to start. 

The wine shown was from my first course pairing, a Spanish sparkler, and I enjoyed more wine through the night.  Matt and Michael had a cocktail each as well, and then the two of them each opted for the agave pairing, enjoying that immensely.

Food!  Here we go...

A few amuses for us:  oysters with tuna ceviche and caviar

and a little trio that included a small cup of tortilla soup. 

I'm always in awe of how they can get such marvelous layered flavours in their sauces and broths.

Tostada de Atun. 

A tuna tostada that went very nicely with the Spanish wine.

Palmito en mole verde. 

Roasted and charred heart of palm in a green sauce for which we would have loved spoons.  I thought the entire meal was wonderful, but this course was my favourite.  Paired with a French Chardonnay.

A small intermezzo that I didn't quite catch but was essentially a meaty bite.  Yum!

Pulpo Zarandeado.  Grilled octopus. 

A successful course, and very pretty.  This is where I lost track of which wines I had - it IS over a week later - and the menu listing doesn't actually help.  Ah well.  At some point here or after this I had my favourite wine of the night, a Beaujolais. I liked the wine so much, I had another glass after dinner.

Carne en su Jugo. 

Wagyu beef.  Good, but I though this one might have been a tad more generous in size.  Still, I liked it, and we had plenty of tortillas to mop it up with.  

Pitaya, Coco Tierno, Maiz. 

Lime-tamal pudding cake with a cactus fruit sorbet and young coconut.  If this had been the only dessert, I would have been thrilled.  I honestly can't recall the wine for this one, not because it was a bad pairing, I promise - all of the wines were successful pairings.

Sabores de Maguey Rostisado. 

Plantain blondie torte with sweet potato ice cream.  Oh, I liked this one a lot.  I think there may have been a port or other dessert wine with this, but I cannot recall that one either.

There were little treats that followed, and I had wine while Matt had coffee.  We weren't the last to arrive, but we were the second-to-last to leave.  A very fine night all around, and thank you to Matt and Michael for sharing it with me!  The Chicago dining was underway, and wow, were there some more excellent dishes and drinks to come!

so much for willpower

At some point the photography becomes a compulsion, doesn't it? Oh, it has its uses. Securing permanent residency for Conrad was aided immeasurably by the photographic record of our relationship, both in and of the photos themselves, and for how the way we file them by date helped us reconstruct our relationship story. And then there are the simpler pleasures of the two of us reminiscing over older photos, or sharing them with friends and family who may actually want to see some of them.

But it's a bit much, and it's something I've given a lot of thought to lately. Inundating people with information. Oversharing. The blog and Flickr - can't I sometimes live life without having to document it endlessly?

Apparently not. Ah well.

I had intended last night to enjoy being treated to dinner at Topolobampo by our friend Howard, in town from San Francisco for the weekend with his friend Dennis. No photos. A late dinner, drinks, conversation. And for a while, I was managing to do just that. All was tasty, and the evening slipped along terrifically well.

And then Howard's beef tartare (yes, at Topolobampo) came out. So exquisitely composed, like a Japanese meal, it seemed. Marvelous. I slipped. I asked if I could have a photo. Howard acquiesced.

One course later (we were having three different tasting menus, so Howard was the only one with his particular dishes), out came Howard's spot prawns. Oh my word. I was gushing (without even realizing that Rick Bayless was sitting at the table over my shoulder, dining with his wife in their own restaurant). Bugger. Good effort at not taking photos there, Peter.

I actually held off on any more until dessert. I loved my dessert muchly - multiple coconut confections in the dish. One more photo.

In for a penny, in for a pound. Photos, and since I had them, a blog post to go with.

Forgive the oversharing. And brace yourselves. Tonight's dinner of braised chicken thighs is almost ready to be served, and that may mean still more photos ahead.

Frontera wine dinner

Yoshi's will always be #1 in my heart when it comes to Chicago restaurants so long as Yoshi and Nobuko are there. After that, we'll see. #2? Easy: Frontera Grill/Topolobampo.

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!

more to come...

You know, I didn't do a half-bad job of blogging last week, all things considered. And I here I sit, having got some dinner in my belly and some housework done, all set to catch up more.

Well, except, I'm a little lazy.

:-)

I will blog more in days ahead, assuredly. Conrad is in LA/Honolulu for 10 days, so I will have time to add to the blog. Why, there's more on

the DC weekend

the wine pairing dinner at Frontera Grill/Topolobampo

the weekend past in the UP and outlet shopping!

Stay tuned. Meanwhile I will get to work on the Flickr photos...

celebration dinner: Topolobampo

Two nights ago we celebrated. Conrad and I took Bob, my former department head, to a restaurant we all rather like to celebrate my achievement of tenure this year and to give Bob special thanks for his good mentorship and guidance. Plus, he's just plain good company over food and wine.

Topolobampo was our choice. Bob has long been a regular in Frontera Grill with forays over to the fine dining room, so it's a nice kick to see him interact so well with so many of the folks there. Topolobampo is a handsome, warm room, and we had an great table tucked in a corner near the kitchen with views of all the other diners. Well, Bob had the views, as guest of honour. Conrad had some, too. Me? I got to look in at the remarkably small kitchen, something I enjoyed very greatly.

A caveat here: we decided we didn't want to photograph the meal (a decision we nullified by the end). We wanted to enjoy dinner. We did. Rest assured, we did.

We started out with a cocktail each while deliberating at length over the menu. Eventually we had another cocktail, which is unusual and ambitious for us. Mine were these seasonal apple cocktails - not at all sweet, in fact. The little twist was a hint of cinnamon salt to kick up the flavour. Really good.

Anyway, we talked over the food with our waitress and with Jill, the sommelier (we love her, I can't say it enough - we had a bottle of wine for her we brought back from BC because it's fun to share these things along). Ultimately, we decided we would each have an item from the raw bar (seafood), an appetizer, and an entree. I took control of the wine and ordered a half bottle of Champagne to start with, then a New Zealand red for after that. so, a half bottle of wine each, if you think of it. On top of the cocktails. Still with me?

Anyway, Conrad asked for a specific raw bar item, and a specific entree, and every other choice we left up to staff. Surprise us, make it go with the wine. And that was that. Fun to do - they liked the challenge of it.

Jill brought the Champagne. The food began.

Conrad had a trio of ceviche: Ceviche Fronterizo (lime-marinated Hawaiian blue marlin with tomatoes, olives, cilantro, jcama and green chile); Ceviche Yucateco (steamed organic shrimp and calamari tossed with lime, orange, habanero, avocado, jcama and cilantro); Ceviche de Atun "Chamoy" (sashimi-quality Hawaiian ahi tuna tossed with crunchy jicama and tangy, fruity, spicy red chile-apricot chamoy salsa; almond crunch).

Bob ended up with smoked trout (I wish I had a better description, sorry).

I had "Tostadas" de Atun y Erizo – Hawaiian ahi tuna carpaccio and fresh Maine sea urchin with crispy tortillas, fresh lime and roasted garlic mojo. Fried leeks, avocado, sungold tomato.

Next course was a surprise to us all. Jill gifted us with a glass of wine paired with each - a different wine for each of us. Lovely. So add to the tally of wine! The food:

I had Tacos de Huitlacoche, Caldo de Jitomate – Crispy rolled tacos filled with Three Sister's Garden huitlacoche (corn mushroom). Roasted tomato broth, crunchy pickled vegetables, avocado, Bayless Garden microgreens.

Bob had Atun de Mole Negro – seared Hawaiian ahi tuna in Oaxacan black mole with plantain-filled tamal, grilled nopal salad, roasted knob onions, three nut crunch.

Conrad had Mollejas de Ternera, Mole Verde – "Popcorn" sweetbreads with green pumpkinseed mole. Roasted local turnip, fried plantain, Bayless Garden microgreens.

For dinner we had the bottle of the Black Ridge Pinot Noir, a Central Otago wine (really super). The food:

Conrad had scallops, a dish I cannot find a full description of - my apologies again.

Bob had Mole de Olla – Rich, red chile-and-epazote broth with 72-hour-braised Tallgrass short rib. Corn masa dumplings (chochoyotes), xoconostle (sour prickly pear) green peas, chayote.

I had Cochinita Pibil – overnight-braised Maple Creek Farm suckling pig "pibil" with crispy pig's foot, sour orange jellies, habanero-pickled onions, sunchoke pudding.

I came back from the bathroom after dinner and saw that we had three glasses of a dessert wine at the table, followed by a special dessert platter. These were compliments of Jill as well. She later came and sat and chatted a bit with us while Bob had a liqueur and I had a decaf cafe de olla.

4 hours all told. Lots of wine and food. We were treated so very well, is it any wonder we love going there? The surprises were surprising - really, so many things on that menu appealed to me, but it was good that I got things I might not have thought to order (the tuna to start, the tacos). The others agreed.

Favourites? I liked my cocktails a lot. I loved my tuna carpaccio - it left a real burn in my mouth in a good way. I liked my tacos, definitely, but thought Bob's black mole was even better and thought that Conrad's sweetbreads were swoon-worthy. Loved them immensely. My pork was awesome. The pork and the sauce went soooooo well with the wine, and the serving was a good size.

I wish I could remember the dessert details exactly - there were three on the platter, and I had had a comfortable amount to drink by that point. What sticks with me was the coconut sorbet - I think it was coconut. It tasted (and I mean this in a very good way, bizarre as it sounds) like white jelly beans.

So, a great night, and small wonder I didn't have breakfast the next morning!

Thanks, then, to Bob for his good mentorship, and to Jill and Jessica and everyone at Topolobampo who created yet another very fine evening for us.

Frontera Foundation dinner, 2008

Wow. And oh my goodness.

So then, 11:13 on a Sunday night, and I'm rather glad I'm taking tomorrow as a (very legitimate - I have two article drafts and a grant proposal) research leave day. We've had quite a dinner, and I need some water before bed.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that Yoshi's has a special place in my heart - it's truly my favourite Chicago restaurant. But there is a big world of non-Yoshi's dining out there, and the Rick Bayless empire has a pretty supreme position in that.

Tonight we dined in Topolobampo. The 6th annual Frontera Foundation dinner, and I have to say, it was superb from beginning to end.

Conrad and I joined RAD and some others to make up a table of 7. All were exceptionally good and enjoyable company (Dianne, Jim, RAD, Linda, and Tim).

Better still, most of us won silent auction items or raffle items, or both in one case! Fun! We got ourselves gussied up


and made our way down there in time o beat one of the rain/hail storms passing through.

But you're here for the food, so let's press onward with that.

After the Margarita of the Midway (flavoured with rhubarb and prickly pear), it was on to an opening bite: Pizza #1. Handmade artisanal grassfed Jack and cheddar on flaky filo crust with Sungold tomato jellies and Green City Market basil.
Light, flaky, a simple bite that had the delightful fragrance of the basil. Fun!

The first real course: Smoked Rushing Waters trout with cattail shaved ice and shoots salad. People, that was cattail shaved ice. Seriously, who thinks of these things? Gold star. Wow. A great taste combination, a little bit of zing to it. Carlos, the managing partner, brought out a raw cattail to explain to us the use of it as an ingredient, which only added to the experience. Above all, though? The crispy trout skin. Lovely. Jill paired this with the 2007 Viña Esmeralda, Torres Family Winery. I don't think I can rave enough about how lovely the wine pairings were tonight. I'll try.

Next up, my favourite. Conrad and I discussed this in the cab home, and I still have to say this was the course I most liked. Which is high praise, you should understand - the food was delightful tonight. But this, ahhhhh. Homemade chorizo soup with 45-minute slow-poached egg and puffed hand-harvested Minnesota wild rice.
The photos show the egg and sausage before and after the broth was poured into the bowl. The wine was the 2005 Nerola from Torres.

Fish again - not a complaint. Wild Alaskan troll-caught king salmon with green chile "pesto", hickory nut pipián, and fresh corn tamal filled with goat cheese. The wine really surprised us - a Spanish Pinot Noir. We're not experts, but we'd never encountered a Spanish Pinot. the 2006 Mas Borràs Pinot Noir was a revelation. I was down visiting the other end of the table during this course, but I could see how delighted Conrad was with this pouring.

On to the meat with a course of Grill-roasted pork loin with spicy red curry, grilled garlic scapes, coconut-mango rice, and smoky asparagus.
Wait, we're at Frontera? Curry? It worked, marvelously. The wine was a 2006 Atrium Merlot - I should note that I more than happily had additional pours of each red after dinner.

Finally it came time for dessert: Pizza #2. Cute idea. Homemade puff pastry with Wisconsin hickory nut cream, strawberries and rhubarb, jellied crema and applemint. Maybe I'm in a mint mood these days, but I think that particular flavour made the dessert. For wine we enjoyed the non-vintage Aqua d'Or, from the Torres Family Vineyard (like all the wines tonight).

We finished the evening with tequila. No, I lie. I tasted a bit of each of the three tequilas and then opted for cafe de olla plus more red wine.

Tonight was all for a good cause, more than just my tummy. But goodness, if only every good cause could be so much fun, so satisfying. We won a silent auction item, we brought home grab-bag goodies, and we utterly enjoyed the company at the table. Soon time for bed, but I think I need to come down a little from such an evening. Enjoy the photos!