Tortas at Xoco
A supernaturally gorgeous week in NYC, and where was I? In Chicago. But it was outrageously sunny and springy there too, totally unseasonal and not at all what I’d envisioned in my midwestern-winter-fearing wimpiness. In lieu of the usual news and notes on NYC restaurants, I offer here a quick rundown of favorite eating and drinking stops from this Chicago trip, in case you, dear reader, or anyone you know is headed there. And when Salmaland eventually (soonish..) starts including other cities, Chicago will be one of them, ditto Houston, LA, SF/Berkeley, Miami, Portland, Boston, and others.
My Chicago post-it notes:
1) Avec still rocks. Chef Koren Grievson has an unfailing gut-level instinct for what people want to eat, and the serious chops to pull it off. You’ll wait a bit to be seated—about 30 minutes in our case— during prime time. But if you have drinks next door at Blackbird, they’ll call you when your table is ready. I really wish more NYC restaurants would adopt this simple, humane, not too terribly tough little trick; but alas. Avec highlights: Flatbread with speck, pears, and arugula; brioche and duck sausage with spiced maple; pan-seared walleye pike with bacon and mussels (doesn’t sound sexy but is); braised pork shoulder with chestnut-bacon dumplings (sounds sexy and is).
2) Xoco is Rick Bayless’s new quick-service spot for Mexican sandwiches, stews, and pastries (i.e. tortas, caldos, and churros). My griddled torta of prosciutto (from current-darling cured meats supplier La Quercia), avocado, cheddar, and black beans was a touch bland at first and needed a kick of hot sauce (which comes with). That turned it instantly into a spicy, joyful meat-bomb. Aztec hot chocolate and a crisp hot churro washed it all down beautifully. Xoco’s service policy is head-scratchingly complicated: The take-out line opens only after 3pm, so during busy lunch hours you’re forced to not only stand in line for your food but also wait for a table or stool to free up. Why not just let us order takeout if we want to, so we can make like a tree and get out (in the immortal words of Marty McFly)? Then more people can squeeze into the tables. But I’m not in the consulting bidness. I’ll just assume there’s logic behind this.
3) Around the corner from Xoco is the rest of Rick Bayless’s Mexican food empire: Frontera Grill and the next-door Topolobampo. The two share a bar area, with separate but adjoining dining rooms. If you’re sitting at the bar, you can order from either menu—but after 2pm, don’t bother asking for the Topolobampo menu. That kitchen shuts down at 2pm *sharp,* so if, like me, you ask for the menu at 2:04pm (and ask nicely, and a touch pleadingly), the answer will be no. More strange business decisions. Anyway: From the Frontera menu, the sunchoke soup with smoked chicken, roasted parsnips, and chayote is a revelation. Normally I hate that word, but it’s truly necessary here. Loads of intensely deep, layered, and nuanced flavors in one tiny bowl. If you needed convincing about the whole Rick Bayless thing, this soup alone could do it. The tamale of barbecued goat, sprayed with plump and crunchy sunflower shoots,  is not too shabby either. Both were enough consolation for missing Topolo by four measly minutes.
4) Table 52:Â Former Oprah personal chef Art Smith’s languid, cozy two-year-old restaurant. This is for when you’re feeling undaunted by absurdly rich, huge (as in size and flavor) Southern-meets-global cuisine with a country soul. Malcolm Gladwell was at the next table but I couldn’t tell what he was eating. Highlights: shrimp and grits, and maple-sugar shortribs with sweet potato puree (sounded too sweet but were subtle, supple, just right).
5) Misc extras: Stood in line for a few minutes at The Purple Pig with four friends (the restaurant’s motto: “Cheese, Wine, and Swine”), but the wait was going to be more than an hour, so we bailed. Will plan better next time and get here pre-dinner rush. The lobby bar of the James hotel on Michigan Ave (cool hotel, btw) has unexpectedly excellent, free bar snacks like ultra-thin breadsticks dipped in chili oil, and chocolate-dusted popcorn. Power up if you’re planning to stand in line at Avec or the Purple Pig later.
6) I didn’t make it to Alinea this time, but this video from mindblowingly-inventive-as-always chef Grant Achatz makes me wish I had.