Chicago: XOCO
Ever since I heard that Rick Bayless is based here in Chicago, I've been dying to try out one of his restaurants. I've never really been a chef groupie, but I remember watching Ray Bayless's show, "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" as a kid and being a huge fan. When I found out that my friend was going to be in town, I seized the chance to drag her to XOCO.
XOCO is Ray Bayless's latest project. It opened just last fall right next to the Frontera Grill:
The concept behind XOCO is Mexican street food. I've never been one for fancy dining, so this is right up my alley. The setup at XOCO is interesting in that you wait in line at the counter, but you can't order until a table has opened up for your party. Once you get a table number, you place your order, pay, and then get seated to wait for your food:
We started with the Thursday special, the mole poblano torta:
Braised pork, wood-grilled onions, fresh cheese...how can a sandwich taste so good? I was blown away by how flavorful and juicy the pork was, how surprisingly tasty it was with that hint of fresh lime. I found that the torta was perfect on its own; I hardly added any of the sauce.
Even though we wanted to save stomach space for our other food plans for the evening, we figured that since we were already at XOCO, we might as well take advantage of it and order something else as well. We ended up deciding on the roast duck caldo:
XOCO does not skimp on ingredients. There were big chunks of shredded duck meat along with nice, big cubes of potato. People who know me will be surprised to hear this, but my favorite part of the caldo was not the duck, but actually this unidentified squash that retained its crispness and brought this delicious sweetness to the dish. The broth was both salty and sour, with a kick that took me by surprise once in a while.
While XOCO may not be the cheapest Mexican place around, I will definitely be back to try the other tortas on the menu...and maybe a churro.
XOCO
449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 334-3688
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html
XOCO is Ray Bayless's latest project. It opened just last fall right next to the Frontera Grill:
The concept behind XOCO is Mexican street food. I've never been one for fancy dining, so this is right up my alley. The setup at XOCO is interesting in that you wait in line at the counter, but you can't order until a table has opened up for your party. Once you get a table number, you place your order, pay, and then get seated to wait for your food:
We started with the Thursday special, the mole poblano torta:
Braised pork, wood-grilled onions, fresh cheese...how can a sandwich taste so good? I was blown away by how flavorful and juicy the pork was, how surprisingly tasty it was with that hint of fresh lime. I found that the torta was perfect on its own; I hardly added any of the sauce.
Even though we wanted to save stomach space for our other food plans for the evening, we figured that since we were already at XOCO, we might as well take advantage of it and order something else as well. We ended up deciding on the roast duck caldo:
XOCO does not skimp on ingredients. There were big chunks of shredded duck meat along with nice, big cubes of potato. People who know me will be surprised to hear this, but my favorite part of the caldo was not the duck, but actually this unidentified squash that retained its crispness and brought this delicious sweetness to the dish. The broth was both salty and sour, with a kick that took me by surprise once in a while.
While XOCO may not be the cheapest Mexican place around, I will definitely be back to try the other tortas on the menu...and maybe a churro.
XOCO
449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 334-3688
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html
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