LTHForum.com

As tongue-in-cheekily reported in Grub Street, the whole world stopped to take a breath when Bayless tweeted yesterday that they're offering soft-serve with unpredictable toppings at Xoco: http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2010/02/b ... t-ser.html

What I find weird about this concotion is the brownie (so oddly unMexican feeling; though I'm sure they have such things south of the border, I've never seen one in a pasteleria/panaderia) and the "streusel" -- yes, I know, Germany left an imprint on Mexico (cf. Mariachi bands), but putting that pastry element on soft serve seems so...odd and seemingly non-Latina, nuevo or otherwise.

Still, got to hand it to the maestro: he's still got some tricks up his sleeve.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Mariachi music does not have German roots. Mariachi dates back to the 1500's, German immigration to Mexico, the late 1800's.

Did I say Mariachi had German roots?

I'm no musicologist, but some sources suggest mariachi is much more recent than the sixteenth century: http://www.mariachi.org/history.html

That aside, there seems a connection between "oompah" sound and Mariachi, check out Industrial Oompah Mariachi Metal from, you guessed it, Rammstein.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Norteno music is the one that sounds like a Polish polka. Not sure if that is relevant to this discussion.

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i used to milk cows

And actually it may be tejano that is more influenced by German settlement in Texas.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

David,

I think you made a mistake re: Rammstein video. If you follow the video back to youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUEyYuZkjVI , the creator of the video claims that it was made as a joke. Another song overlaid over the actual Rammstein sound of the original video.

It was posted as a kind of joke, but I really shouldn't talk about anything other than Norwegian Black Metal, which is the only kind of music with which I have any familiarity at all.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

didn't take you for the corpsepaint & spiky clothes type Hammond

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

Not to let this become a music history discussion, but tejano and norteño are both similar styles (usually accordian-based), but norteño has more "modern" and American influences (you'll hear bits of rock, blues, and country influencing tejano). Basically, tejano comes from norteño. There's also banda music, which is pretty much Mexican big band polka (brass and clarinet features prominently, accordian is not usually present.)

It's amusing to me, as I live in the neighborhood I grew up in, and in the mornings, it was not unusual to hear Polish polka blasting from the neighbor's garages as they worked on their cars or whatnot. Now, it's still the same familiar music, just sung in Spanish.

Yeah, it's the banda music of north and northwest Mexico that has the Polish/polka influence, though of course, that sound is sort of ubiquitous now. There's a Mexican ska (!) band coming through town soon that does a great job merging the polka/ska/banda sound.

Wait, what forum am I posting to again?

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http://fishsticksandketchup.com/

this place is VERY good... try the pibil torta and the churros/hot chocolate. this place turned me into a chocoholic!

sailingfanblues

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"cooking is an art. baking a science."
-- benjamin franklin

So I took the bride to Xoco for breakfast on Saturday morning.

Found parking, paid my $2 to the great city and walked across the street to enjoy. We get into line which is probably only 5-6 deep and wait for maybe 5 minutes when a manager? comes over to the line and announces that breakfast is no longer being served. It is 9:30am.

OK I think I would rather have a torta from the lunch menu anyway... but no, the only items being offered until lunch are pastry and drinks.

Overall, as a member of the industry I could not have been more disappointed in this. No explanation, no nothing just we are not serving.

I really cant believe that a place run by an industry vet would ever let something like this happen. If it were busy and the kitchen was out then it is easy to understand but on a cold February morning no dice.

Cheers,

Bourbon

LTH,

Lines, numbers, being shuffled to, eventually, sit with strangers all in the name of a torta, even a wood-fired Bayless torta, has kept me from Xoco, so with trepidation I succumbed to the bride's suggestion of an early Saturday lunch at Xoco. After all, it was only fair as she accompanied me to Tierra Caliente a few weeks ago, which she loved.

One bite of rich juicy goat barbacoa, a Saturday special, loaded on a perfectly crisp wood toasted torta, with creamy avocado highlighted by onion/cilantro reminded me no matter the venue, no matter crowds, hype or incessant tweets, at the core Rick Bayless and team care deeply about what goes on the plate.

Goat Barbacoa - Oaxacan pasilla, tomatillo salsa, avocado, onions, cilantro



The bride's Ahogada, the best version I've tasted, was enhanced by the vertical presentation which, as noted by ReneG upthread, allows one to control the amount of spicy arbol tomato broth.

Ahogada golden pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, spicy arbol chile sauce, pickled onions.




Having grown up, and grown larger, on Kopp's frozen custard I found myself somewhat nonplussed by Xoco's. Nothing distinctively 'Mexican' and a bit looser/softer than I prefer, pasilla brownie bits morphing from chewy to mushy in short order. Expensive for a small cup, regardless of pristine provenance.

Xoco, 2.20.10



Churros, on the other hand, were terrific, crisp with subtle richness hinting at lard, sugar crystals adding sweet crunchy textural goodness.

Churros



Thought the Aztec (Mexican coco beans, chile, allspice) terrible, one sip and I set it aside. There was an strong/odd vinegar tang I found completely off putting. I did like the gratis carbonated water, along with plain, offered fountain style, a nice touch.

All in all an enjoyable lunch, I'll be back, though at off hours as the line was out the door with over an hour wait when we left.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I went last night for dinner around 6.30. As others have noted, there was a floor manager expediting seating and ordering. Carry out orders went right away, but if you wanted a seat, you had to wait until the manager gave you a number. Then you would order and sit down in the designated spot.

It was crowded- we waited about 15 minutes for our seat, and another 15 minutes for food. There was a mixup with our order, and although I asked for two shortrib tortas, the order take only put through one. I remembered thinking that the order cost seemed low, but it didn't occur to me that something was left off!

I had the vegetable caldo, and it's really delicious. Lots of chunky veggies, avocados, masa dumplings and fresh greens on top that sweat and melt into the soup. The broth itself had a strong mushroom flavor. I had ordered it medium spicy, but it was not at all spicy. Pretty mild, in fact. I don't know if that was an oversight, or just the way "medium" is. Next time I'll go for spicy.

So one sandwich arrives, and the other doesn't. We asked the busboy for the other sandwich, he looks at the ticket, and says he'll check. Then the cashier came back, and proceeds to tell me that I made a mistake and didn't order two sandwiches. She said she read me the order back, and she confirmed only one sandwich. Well, that's fine, bad on me, so my husband went up and ordered another sandwich. I did flag the floor manager, only because I thought the cashier spent an inordinate amount of time telling me how I made a mistake, and justifying what she did, rather than just solving the problem. He was SUPER-NICE and ended up comping the sandwich, and giving us an ice-cream at the end of the meal, which was not at all what I expected.

I think the flow from waiting, to ordering, to seating, to getting food is pretty complicated for a small space that is quite loud and crowded. I simply did not hear the cashier read back the order, or perhaps there was a language barrier. I expect a few glitches, and my only purpose in pointing out the issues was to suggest improvements in how the staff resolve problems.

I'd love to come back for the churros y chocolate, if only because that was the name of my Freshman year Spanish text in high school!

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"You should eat!"

Do yourself a favor and don't go on a Friday at lunch like I did last friday. The line was almost to the door, which is a 45 minute wait. There was someone handling handing out menus and what not, and getting people seats. She told me since I was a single table of 1 it may only be 20 minutes, this proved to be not true.. Either way it didn't matter your party size, you had to stand in line for 20-25 minutes before she gave you a number which allowed you to order. So... 50 minutes later I ordered my food and was told where to sit by her (at a bar stool next to the trash can facing a windowless wall).

A few minutes later my food came. I ordered the Cochinita Pibil. The taste was off the charts. The sandwich was $12 and had no sides. Just the sandwich and a small thing of really hot habanero hot sauce. Every person involved from the register person to the food runner was sure to issue a cautionary "be careful" and told me how to eat the hot sauce. It was indeed pretty hot. I ordered ice cream as well, which they said to just tell them when I was ready for it.

And that's when the "misunderstanding" took place. I got up to run and get a refill on my water, the hostess said "thanks for coming in to me" (i like that they have sparkling--or some sort of carbonated water--on tap)... I replied "no I'm just getting water" ... Not even 30 seconds later I was back at my bar stool to find that someone had come by and cleared my plate. My sandwich was only about 1/3 gone, I'm not sure why anyone would've swooped in to clear my plate. And the 3 or 4 other stools next to mine were all vacant, so it's not like they were short on bar stools. I asked the hostess if she could find where it went, but it was too late. She said they'd remake it, but asked if I wanted it to go. At this point I was annoyed so I took it, and my ice cream to go.

I ate my ice cream first on the way home. It was the salted caramel bacon strudel ice cream. Absolutely divine. They also use Farmer's Creamery milk, which is my preferred milk in Chicagoland. It tastes amazing, and that flavor really comes through in everything you make with it. The ice cream was pretty amazing.

I ate the new sandwich when I got back to my office. It traveled pretty well. A bit of a hassle to deal with going here, and it's not inexpensive... but I'd go back on a non Friday.

I was alone on my first visit and I set my newspaper and number down so that I could use the washroom. When I returned, my place was cleared. It wasn't easy getting my sandwich.

They also had the "number nazi" working on my first visit. There were plenty of seats but she wouldn't give people numbers to order very quickly (which was really pissing me off at the time). As it took about 15 minutes to get my sandwich after ordering, I realized that I wouldn't have been served any quicker anyway. On subsequent visits, I have chosen to take out so that I could avoid whatever line there may be.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop in and pick up a pecan shortbread cookie. Best thing I've ever eaten for $1.00. I even told Rick that. He said his wife loves them.

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i used to milk cows

They really are delicious, I always order one when I eat at XOCO.

The cookies were the big winner over the much-ballyhooed hot chocolate on my first visit.

I've tried one on each visit since and they've stayed consistently very good to excellent.

Anyone have a review for the mushroom torta?

Oh what a bad influence you are! Our office is right around the corner so we all are at Xoco often but I've carefully avoided the treats. Not today ... that pecan cookie is astonishing! I ended up sitting at my desk licking up each tiny crumb.

And the Papaya agua fresca was lovely too ... hint of mint?

Had a taste of my wife's just yesterday. Very nice... big, earthy mushroom flavor. Not the least bit shy.

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-Dom
www.skilletdoux.com

Don't forget the "daily special" tortas at this place.

Had the Thursday Mole Poblano recently, and it was outstanding -- gives the Ahodaga a run for its money.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree. I've been wanting for months to make it in on a Thursday, and in fact, was looking up people's comments on the Mole Poblano torta yesterday. After seeing this comment this morning, I knew I had to get there today.

I stopped in around 5:30, and there was little to no wait. Sadly, the mole had no flavor. Really, at first I considered that maybe it was the wrong sandwich, but saw the radishes, onions, and cilantro, and resigned myself to the fact that this was it. The bread was still great, the meat was tender, and the salsa provided some refreshing acidity, but the mole was just a nonentity - so much so that I was (and still am) tempted to tweet Rick Bayless to tell him to check in and see if the mole was up to his standards today.

The hibiscus/lemongrass agua fresca was delightful, and I'll be back for my favorites: the ahogada and the Saturday goat barbacoa. Once was enough for the mole, though.

Fair enough. I agree that the mole was a supporting player in this sandwich. I just liked everything else so much.

Churro with soft serve vanilla for dipping is wicked good.



Love the ahogada, arbol chile has some heat, almost hot enough to get my attention, though I get some of the habanero sauce that comes with the cochinita for backup.

Recent service was unfailingly polite, the cashier actually engaged us in conversation. Not sure if is is part of her training/job description, but she sure was friendly. Back of the house servers are efficient and friendly as well, very smooth operation.

If not for no parking, impossible crowds and somewhat high prices I'd be at Xoco on a regular basis.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I stopped in for breakfast this morning and had the huevos rancheros, which were outstanding. Two corn tortillas with some black bean puree between them, two poached eggs (yolks runny) on top with a bit of crumbly cheese (queso?), all covered in a perfect tomato sauce. What really made the dish was the tomato sauce, which had a vibrant fresh tomato taste (even though I assume made from canned at this time of year), with onions and a slight bit of heat. Xoco opens for breakfast at 8:00, which is when we were there, and there were just a couple of people there. A great time to enjoy this fine place in a relaxed atmosphere that I gather is not the rule but the exception.


Jonah

It's too bad they pushed back their opening time. They used to open at 7am, and I could go for breakfast, ride my bike up to my office in Evanston and be changed and ready for 9am meetings. I must not have been eating enough (I was usually one of very few people there at 7) to support the earlier hour.

Just in case your cell phone dies before you can call to confirm that the place is open, think what the hell, grab a cab and blow $7 getting there all ready for a [Baylessian head-waggle] tor-ta aho-ga-da and hot chocolate on a cold and windy late morning, Xoco is desolately closed along with the other imperial outposts through January 10.

No wonder I didn't see any line when I drove by the other day.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child