Frontera Grill -James Beard Outstanding Rest. of the Year

"Chicago's Frontera Grill named Outstanding Restaurant of the Year"

http://www.pr-inside.com/winners-announ ... 116927.htm

...hmm.... really?

nothing against Fronterra, good food and all... but umm.. really Fronterra the most outstanding restaurant of the year in the country?

(in other news, Achatz best chef in Great Lakes region, Keller outstanding restraunteur, Tru outstanding service,




http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/awards ... gory=3#440

Congrats to Rick Bayless - that place is a true gem. Timeless and never-off in my experience.

Certainly arguments to be made - but I'm happy for Frontera. Other than the bar-shuffle, it might be close to a perfect restaurant.

I wonder if all the other stuff Bayless does -- the charity work, the Frontera Foundation, the educational stuff -- doesn't influence the decision of the judges. I think his food is very good, but I think the greatness of the whole Bayless enterprise is greater than the restaurant alone.

Am I the only person who thinks Frontera is highly overrated?

I mean...it's a decent meal and certainly authentic and I would never argue over the precedent it's set for mexican food all over the country. But what with the impossible wait times and the overcrowding and the constant and ever present grilled scallions, I just come away from there underwhelmed every time I've ventured there in the last 5 years.

I think your comment about Bayless's community work is very telling -- I think he definitely has the respect of his peers and is noted by some as being a person who has made a great business by not really selling out on his original values. He's definitely commercial but he's still "keeping it real".

The one time I ate at Topolobampo, i was really impressed. But Frontera always leaves me feeling rather hurried and unfulfilled. If someone I'm with wants mexican food in that vein, I always try to talk them into a different venue -- salpicon or some of the other places that do that style.

On an unrelated note -- isn't it annoying when you order a quesadilla with beans and rice and when you get it back to your office, your beans and rice are missing? I"m pretty peeved right now.

Ciao...

shannon

has made a great business by not really selling out on his original values

Burger King anyone?

FWIW, I'm a big Bayless fan too...

Perhaps my opinion of the operation is slightly better because I've actually only eaten at Topolobampo. The first time I went, I was on the T-side, and seeing the crowds in Fronera Grill convinced me this was the way to go for return visits, too. The Frontera menu has a lot of interesting stuff on it that I'd love to try, but I agree that it doesn't always seem worth the fight. For cheap Mexican, I go somewhere else. But Topolobampo is still a soothing experience, where no one's elbow ever gets close to your margharita.

Snark wrote:

has made a great business by not really selling out on his original values

Burger King anyone?

Marshall Fields, errrr sorry... Macy's food court anyone?

Cynthia wrote:Perhaps my opinion of the operation is slightly better because I've actually only eaten at Topolobampo.

honestly I'm in that same boat, i guess should mention. I really really loved topolo though, and kinda don't see fronterra as being that different from the many other choices out there. i've tried doing fronterra on more than one occasion, but the whole no reservation thing just isn't workable always... i'd think i'd be happier if the award would have gone to topolobampo..

As I posted in another thread, I like to think that our palates are a bit more discerning. Speaking as the instigator of the successful anti-GNR renewal for both restaurants, I feel a proprietary interest in the subject.

Gypsy Boy wrote:the successful anti-GNR renewal for both restaurants, I feel a proprietary interest in the subject.

hmmmmm, that post seems to have mysteriously vanished.

You're absolutely correct. Perhaps a moderator can shed light on why that entire GNR thread has disappeared....

Not mysteriously. The non-renewed GNR threads are removed from the GNR board because, hey, why rub it in somebody's face? The award is about what's good now, not winners and losers. We will probably merge any actual content (as opposed to posts seconding the nomination and so on) into existing threads about the restaurants in Eating Out in Chicagoland, but since this is the first time we've done a renewal round and it just got announced two days ago, we're still figuring what exactly to do.

In that case, you can read my original reviews about why I refuse to go back to Frontera or to Topolobampo. The post in the thread that was eliminated summarized the two reviews in light of the posted criteria for GNRs.

As noted but, apparently, unnoticed, not eliminated, not even terminated, disintegrated or disgustipated. Merged into existing conversations on the same restaurants, as of now.

I think that it's a bit absurd that the "best restaurant in the country" doesn't take reservations.

I've been to Topolobampo and loved it, and would like to try Frontera, but I'm not willing to wait around for an hour just to get a table.

jonjonjon wrote:I think that it's a bit absurd that the "best restaurant in the country" doesn't take reservations. :roll:

I'd like to pick some nits with this.
the award is for "Outstanding Restaurant of the Year," not "best restaurant in the country." there's a difference and I think it's more than just semantics. From the James Beard Foundation: "[T]he Outstanding Restaurant award is given to a restaurant that is at least ten years old and that has set industry standards."
also, Frontera does take reservations for parties >5 and, I think, for lunch. It's almost always accessible for lunch.

Simon wrote:From the James Beard Foundation: "[T]he Outstanding Restaurant award is given to a restaurant that is at least ten years old and that has set industry standards."
also, Frontera does take reservations for parties >5 and, I think, for lunch. It's almost always accessible for lunch.

yes.. it's absolutely not the best restaurant of the year award. for this outstanding restaurant award, the restaurant has to have been in biz for 10 years, the chef has to have made some impact in the industry and be known, etc. this would eliminate just about any current "best" restaurant from even being nominated.

and yes they do take reservations for large groups, and apparently they'll take *same day* reservations for smaller groups. but the few times i've tried calling at 10am in the morning, they couldn't do a party of 2 (or 4, or whatever it was) unless it was really stupid times (9:30pm+, etc)

I read all the other J. Beard winners today and noticed a couple other ones that were of interest here.

TELEVISION FOOD SHOW, LOCAL: Check, Please! Bay Area

Did the original (Chicago) version ever win this award?

TELEVISION FOOD SHOW, NATIONAL: Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie

An excellent show, with segments hosted by LTHer Louisa Chu. Well-deserved award. Congrats, Louisa!

Best,
Michael

No, but the San Francisco one has to be better. It's from San Francisco!

eatchicago wrote:TELEVISION FOOD SHOW, NATIONAL: Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie

An excellent show, with segments hosted by LTHer Louisa Chu. Well-deserved award. Congrats, Louisa!

Terrific news! Good work, Louisa!

Germuska posted this:

MJN has a column referring to this thread in this week's New City.

And then some discussion of the article just as I started a thread on the same topic. Go here to follow that discussion.

I didn't see a recent thread about Frontera Grill, so I thought I'd post about my dinner there last night (05/23/07). If it should be moved, please do so (sorry!).

My sister was in town and I thought Frontera would be a good place to try. I've had lunch at Topolobompo and Frontera Fresco, but the original was new to me. She's something of a carnivore with a taste for spicy foods. Overall, we had a great, great time and while I doubt it will become a place I visit regularly, I'll gladly go whenever I want something a little more special than the norm.

We showed up at about 7:30 and was told the wait would be 1.5 hours. Yes, this is prime dinner time and the restaurant, as well as know, is a mecca for tourists (I think I counted 3 tables looking at guide books), but I was still surprised. But only half-way through our drinks at the bar, a table opened up and we sat down. It was a 4-top, so we felt a little guilty... but only a little. Sitting at the bar would not have been my first choice, but it was preferable to waiting for another hour.

I started with a blood orange margarita and my sister had a modified bloody mary. Both drinks were very tasty, though my margarita tasted a little watered down for my taste. My sister's bloody mary (called a Vampiro Fronterizo?) was very tasty, an excellent balance of chile and tomato).

We started with the requisite guacamole, which was excellent. Sure, it's something I could make at home, but, really, I could make a lot of things at home, too, if you get my meaning. Sun-dried tomatoes proved a good twist, and I liked the onions sprinkled on top rather than mixed in.

My sister went with the carne asada "Brava", made with a Tall Grass rib-eye and servied with sweet corn tamales and a julienne of some sort of mexican squash. I had the suckling pig roasted in banana leaves with black beans and tortillas. Both dishes were amazing, well-seasoned without masking the flavor of the meat. The prices seemed about right for the amount of food we got, and for the fact that the animals were raised naturally. We each had a glass of wine, both of which were priced reasonably at about $10 each, and were tasty.

We skipped out on dessert (we were too full), though I did go with a Reposado tequila flight including samples from Milagro, Sauza "Hornitos" and Oro Azul (I think). I thought this was a great bargain at $11. I encouraged my sister to try the mexican hot chocolate/mezcal-spiked drink, but she thought I was crazy to suggest a hot drink on such a warm night (I guess she had a point).

Like I said, we both enjoyed the meal tremendously. The food had soul and heart and really tasted as though it was prepared by people that cared about the product and their guests. Granted, it's entirely possible I had just fallen more for the story of Frontera and all the hard work Bayless has done (or maybe it was the tequila flight) rather than the restaurant and its food itself. But I don't think so -- the food was great, end of story.

As for the service, we never felt hurried or rushed. Quite the opposite, actually, almost to a fault. It took forever to get the check, but I'll take that over being rushed out of the restaurant any day. Also, I think my water glass was re-filled only once or twice, nearly a tragedy considering I was a bit liberal with the scotch bonnet salsa I got with my pork. But I'll chalk that up to sitting in the bar, rather than the restaurant itself.

The bar was also very crowded and rather warm. As our meal went on, the crowd thinned out and the temperature became a little more bearable. I never felt that the place was so loud I couldn't talk to my sister. And the art decorating the space is wonderful and is worth some attention in its own right.

I don't know that I'd recommend Frontera on a weekend night -- I can't imagine how much worse that maligned 'bar shuffle' would be then -- but I'd go back without hesitation if I had someone in town, or was looking for a meal with a little something extra, just for the heck of it. I'll be prepared to wait in a warm room, but I'll know I could look forward to some very, very satisfying food, too.

Wait-- you actually posted something about the food?

Nice report, Danimalarkey. Welcome to LTHForum.

Stopped by Frontera this evening tonight for a late dinner. Can't seem to find an official Topolo/Frontera thread, so might as well put my brief impressions here.

Last time I was at Frontera was a couple months ago for brunch. This time I came in just before 10:30. It was a Saturday so the restaurant was still crowded, but I was the last to be seated in the main dining room. I sat at the counter, right next to the pass. A rather busy place to be, but I didn't mind. My new Blackberry makes a great date, wsj.com and all.

I had a blood orange margarita, duck carnitas enchilladas, and grilled chicken with amarillo mole. Having visited twice in the past couple months I won't say I'm totally in love with the place. The food is quite delicious, but I'm just not blown away. Perhaps predictably, inflated expectations probably have a lot to do with it. I should also probably start ordering some of the lighter dishes to see how the kitchen handles that kind of thing. Most of the time I'm so drawn to the heavier, meat-based offerings but find myself somewhat bored with them by the time I'm finishing up the dish. The margarita was quite delicious. The duck enchilladas tasted exaclty like one would imagine them to taste. The mole amarillo was nicely paired with a fennel and watercress salad that helped to draw out the herbaceous qualities of the mole. The roasted potatoes were kind of blah and seemed like filler.

I'll get to Topolo, eventually.

Wait-- you actually posted something about the food?

Nice report, Danimalarkey. Welcome to LTHForum.

Thanks -- glad I finally worked up the courage to post. I've been a reader for a while.

And, you know, I didn't mean to buck the trend here, re talking about the food. I know better now for next time.

Saturday, September 6th, some http://www.Tulum.info travel forum members met for drinks and dinner at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, in Chicago.



It was a beautiful night in Chicago for a party! Seven members from the Chicago area attended, including a couple who took an 8 hour train ride from Minnesota to join us, and spend a few nights in the Windy City.

After we all arrived and took our table, and ordered a round of drinks.




Our favorite is the Topolo Margarita, made with tequila, Gran Torres, and house limeade. Very smooth! Actually, dangerously smooth!



The walls are decorated with fine Mexican artwork:





After we had been enjoying drinks and conversation for a while, we saw Rick Bayless making rounds through the restaurant. My wife asked his assistant if he could make a stop at our table, which he obliged. We explained a little about our group, and I think he was impressed to learn that two came all the way from Minnesota to be there this evening:



Well, that was an honor to finally meet "the man"! But it's was time to eat! As an appetizer, my wife and I ordered the Enchiladas de Pescado: homemade tortillas rolled around poached Alaskan black cod, potatoes, grilled onions and epazote. Tomato-habanero sauce, smoked homemade queso fresco, shoestring jicama-cucumber salad:



We had another round of Topolo Margs, prepared tableside by Edgar:





For our entrees, my wife ordered the Pato en Mole de Xico: wood-grilled, red chile-rubbed Gunthorp duck breast with Xico's famous fruity dark chile mole. Black beans and fresh fig salsa.




My wife was in mole heaven once again! It reminded me of our recent trip to the markets of Tulum, MX, at Pool, and the San Franciso mercados, bringing back four different moles. And still, none matched the unique taste of this style mole at Frontera Grill! I sampled the mole, and wished I had a side of it to add to the tacos I was assembling from my steak. It was really smooth, more fruity and less peppery.



I ( as well as all the guys present!) ordered the Carne Asada “Brava”: serrano-marinated grass fed rib steak (from Bill Kurtis' Tall Grass) with salsa de molcajete (hand-crushed roasted tomatoes, serranos and garlic), spicy seared chiles toreados and sweet corn tamales (topped with homemade sour cream and fresh cheese:




The steak was cooked as ordered, and was really flavorful! The waiter said this was the spiciest dish on the menu, and it was indeed! The tamale was not filled, but was a sweetened masa, topped with a crema (sweet crema, not really sour.)



During our dinner, there was suddenly a lot of comotion and cheering near an exit up front. It was Barack Obama exiting after his dinner! Our waiter said he is a regular there. I caught a glimpse of him as he turned back around to wave, and saw his limo Escalade take him away quickly. Sorry, no pics...he was too quick!



For dessert, we ordered a chocolate, crumb-crusted cake, served warm, with raspberries and mint icecream:



It was so good! The mint flavor was very mild and added the right compliment to the dish. Also, I had a cup of my favorite coffee, after seeing Rick prepare and explain it on the beach in the Yucatan, as the subject of one of his shows, the Cafe de Olla. It is coffee, simmmered with orange rind, piloncillo (a type of Mexican solidified dark cane sugar), canela stick (cinnamon):



Well, it certainly was a great night, seeing fellow travel forum posters, some for the first time, and also Bayless and Barack! We had a great night of conversation great food, and drink. When shall we meet again?

During our dinner, there was suddenly a lot of comotion and cheering near an exit up front. It was Barack Obama exiting after his dinner! Our waiter said he is a regular there. I caught a glimpse of him as he turned back around to wave, and saw his limo Escalade take him away quickly. Sorry, no pics...he was too quick!

The Obamas must love Mexican food. I sat next to them a couple of years ago at Chilpancingo (Michelle is statuesque and beautiful in person), and somewhat surprisingly saw them again at the more humble Dorado.

Dinner last night at Frontera was good but reinforced to me that there is no longer any gap separating Frontera from places like Sol de Mexico, Mixteco, Salpicon, Fonda del Mar, etc. In fact, in my opinion Frontera might have some catching up to do with some if not all of the above. But don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my dinner. I started off with some of the smoothest margaritas I've ever had . . . they contained cucumber which I just love and blended perfectly with the lime and tequila.

We ordered guacamole which was very nice but these days it's hard to wow anyone with guac, but the tomatillo and guajillo sauces were nice even if lacking heat. I did find the bottled Frontera hot sauce on the table to be a bit tacky and in-your-face, but that's me.

I started off with the tongue tacos (a la Top Chef Masters) . . . recipe can be found here. I thought the tacos were good, but the meats a little skimpy and didn't fill the tortillas enough. The meat filling also might have been overcooked a bit.

The best starter for me was the crispy duck carnitas tacos which were excellent, particularly the absolutely wonderful and earthy red chile-apricot sauce. Everything about this dish worked. Another starter of pork carnitas in a casserole with white beans and a roasted tomatillo sauce was good in an old shoe comfort kind of way, but didn't wow me - a bit too much cheese prevented me from really finding the depth of flavor I expected from the pork.

My main course of wood roasted duck in a red peanut mole had all the makings of a perfect dish. The only thing that could let me down now is overcooked duck . . . and that is what I (and another friend at the table) was served. The duck was medium if not slightly beyond, making it a little on the dry side. Nonetheless, the flavor of wood roasting came through and the peanut mole was spectacular. The depth of flavors of moles, and particularly this one, wows me and I could tell that this mole had been cooking for hours if not multiple days. Had the duck not been overcooked, I might be saying that this was the best mole dish I had ever been served.

The only other entree I tasted was enchiladas with chicken in a mole poblano sauce and it was good, but to me this mole lacked some of the depth I'm accustomed to tasting in a mole poblano, and was a bit on the sweet side.

In any event, a good meal but I probably will not be returning to Frontera for quite some time (the next time I have an out-of-town visitor in town who wants to see what it's all about).

Watching Rick Bayless on Top Chef Masters drove some friends of mine and I to head back to Frontera. While we often eat at Frontera Fresca at Macy's, it's just not the same. And I know, I know, Chef Rick isn't on the line in the kitchen these days, but still, provided we were going to see something like his lamb dish a few weeks back on TCM we were not going to mind his absence.

For those interested in wait times, even on a Saturday -- The three of us arrived at 4pm and were the 4th or so party in line. By 5pm, the host began taking names, making sure to ask if the entire party was present. Doors opened at 5:10 or so and parties began to be seated. At this time, it looked like the line stretched north on Clark and around the corner. From what I was hearing while standing near the host stand, by the time those people in line were walking in, the wait was quoted as 2 hours for a party of 4. While the bar area will get full right away, they do stagger the seatings in the main dining room. We weren't shown to our tables until about 5:45. The dining area remained pretty empty while we were there which was very, very nice. It was very easy to talk to one another and I never felt rushed.

Remember, too, that seating in the bar area is first-come, first-serve. I have found service to be more uneven and the atmosphere louder and not as comfortable -- still, it's an option if you don't want to wait out the 2 hour+ wait times.

The food was uniformly excellent. We started with queso fundido with homemade chorizo -- the only problem here was that the dish cooled more quickly than we could eat it. Congealed cheese just isn't as appealing (don't worry, we suffered through it). Crispy rolled tacos with duck were also wonderful with a smokey mole-like sauce.

Entrees included a flank steak served with a seriously spicy salsa, pork loin in a pumpkin seed sauce with a mashed potato-like bean puree and the day boat catch (swordfish in a tomato cream sauce). No complaints, though I thought the pork loin was a little over-cooked.

We split the lime chess pie with prickly pear sauce at the end. This was good, with lime zest in the pie filling, but he's got nothing on Hoosier Mama's chess pies. An ice cream sandwich desert (with Negro Modelo ice cream) looked pretty good at the table next to us, but we deemed it too indulgent.

BR is spot on about the summer margarita (Summer Margarita: 3 Generaciones blanco tequila, muddled organic cucumber, fresh lime juice, organic cane syrup). There was a dusting of salt, too, around the rim. Very finely ground and mixed with cilantro, maybe (something vagule herb-y and green), it was a nice touch, different from the usual larger-grained salt.

While we were waiting in the bar area, a server took a drink order. At first, we were thrilled not to have to push our way through the throngs to get to the bar. However, I'm not sure that serving drinks to people standing - with no counter/table available - is a good idea. They still fill those glasses to the brim (please, someone buy them larger glasses...) and it can be pretty easy to spill when you're standing in a big mess of people.

Yes, yes, we could have gone to any other number of places in the city, but that night the place was Frontera. Having satisfied our craving, though, as with BR, I don't think we'll be inclined to head back any time soon.

danimalarkey wrote: And I know, I know, Chef Rick isn't on the line in the kitchen these days, ....

Hmm, what makes you say that? Based on what the servers tell me, he is in the kitchen most days, and I have personally seen him emerge from the kitchen during service at least twice in the last 12 months.

Kennyz wrote:

danimalarkey wrote: And I know, I know, Chef Rick isn't on the line in the kitchen these days, ....

Hmm, what makes you say that? Based on what the servers tell me, he is in the kitchen most days, and I have personally seen him emerge from the kitchen during service at least twice in the last 12 months.

Well, fair enough. I think there's an assumption (no need to remind me what happens when one assumes) that celebrity chefs aren't in their restaurants as often as we might think/want to believe. Still, even if he was in the kitchen, my point was that I wasn't expecting him to be personally preparing/serving the tongue tacos for the restaurant as he had been on tv. But, hey, if he was? Great!