Restaurant Review: Frontera Grill, Chicago, IL

    So it looks like I've neglected this blog--yet again--but I've been re-motivated by my pal Shanimal who just came out with a new blog last week.  Between Shan and my other high school pal Rachel, I've come up with some new ideas for posts, so hopefully this will last.

     As I'd promised in one of my last postings, I want to mix it up by reviewing new and Milwaukee-local restaurants.  I'll be using the following criteria to make my final judgement: atmosphere, service, and food (taste and presentation).  While I realize little old me--in my kitchen, in my head, in my garden--doesn't have much in the line of educated opines, I feel those are the most worthy criteria.  A complete flop on any one of the three is enough to keep me from ever revisiting a restaurant.

     We begin in Chicago, Illinois.  I realize this isn't exactly Milwaukee-local, but I want to start here because it was a special (birthday!) trip, it was a surprise, and it was overall outstanding.  Not to mention, Chicago is a quick train ride south of here--which makes the conductor the designated driver.  And oh, did we need one.  At Frontera Grill, we not only managed to ingest four cocktails apiece, we had four different plates of food.  Between two people.  No one else.  Hashtaggluttony.

     The squeeze and I are avid fans of Rick Bayless--the restaurant's super-star Top Chef master and owner--from his show "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" on PBS.  Obviously.  We all know I love Mexican cooking and cuisine.  In fact, once G-mac conceded that we were indeed training to Chicago, I guessed that we were going to Frontera Grill.  But, back to the food!  All my experience working at an authentic Mexican food cart, mimicking the recipes at home, and trying every different Mexican restaurant I can find was all not nearly enough to prepare me for what I encountered at Frontera.

     Let's start with our first round of drinks.  I'll be copying and pasting the ingredients straight from Bayless' website (how cool, hey?) into the captions:

Topolo Margarita & Rhubarb-Cassis Margarita

     Next up, our first appetizer:

Cacao Guacamole: Smoky morita chile, wood-grilled white onion, toasted cacao nibs, 58% El Rey chocolate bits, oregano, lime. Tortilla chips

     Might I mention that I'm a huge fan of the morita chile?  It's pretty much the entire reason (chocolate notwithstanding) we even ordered the guacamole.  I even buy/keep/prepare them for my own kitchen.  They're just the best combination of smoke and heat. 

     Then, our second round of drinks:

Mango Basil Mojito & Jamaican Sangria

     Followed by our second appetizer:

Frontera Ceviche: Hawaiian albacore, lime, tomatoes, olives, cilantro, & green chile on tostaditas. Tropical Tuna Cocktail:  Sashimi-grade Hawaiian bigeye tuna, tomatillo guacamole, honey Manila mango salsa.

Oysters: Shucked to order. Tomatillo-habanero "minoneta," smoky chipotle-garlic salsa & fresh-cut limes.

     And here is where I have to stop--these appetizers were flat out the best things I'd yet tasted.  The best things.  And we were only into the first part.  I preferred the albacore ceviche over the tuna cocktail--but I can't even tell you why.  All those great flavors of onion, cilantro, and lime coming together in the perfect combination, hitting all four spots on my palate.  The tuna cocktail was also excellent--sashimi grade tuna makes for an interesting combination with avocado; I couldn't tell the difference between the two.

     And onto our first course:

Old School Frontera Trio: Two pieces each: smoked chicken taquitos (sour cream, guacamole), Mexico City-style corn masa quesadillas (artisan cheese, epazote), ceviche fronterizo tostadas.

Then, our second course:

Big Wood-grilled Tacos al Carbon Trio: Grassfed skirt steak (roasted garlic, spices), Gunthorp chicken (tangy, garlicky), pork (pastor marinade, pineapple), roasted poblano rajas, guacamole, grilled knob onions, & guero chile

     And holy mackerel, was this ever worth the calories.  The skirt steak is about the most tender, juiciest, most flavorful steak you've ever had, the chicken was smoky and delightful, and pork was garlicky and spicy.  I can't think of anything else I like better in an entree option.  Which brings us finally, to dessert:

Oro Azul tequila anejo

     Neither of us had room for dessert, so we opted for a more enjoyable form: tequila.  I'm actually of the opinion that all desserts should come in alcohol form--but that's because I usually gorge myself on apps and entrees and leave no space.  Now, I've worked in restaurants pretty much my whole adolescent-to-adult life, and one of them was a Southwestern joint.  As a lifelong bartender, I'd up until this point, been of the opinion that any description, in a book, at bar, in a restaurant, from a sommelier, or WHOEVER, is a bunch of undetectable, arbitrary garbage.  That is, of course, until I had the Oro Azul.

     Every word in its description was present from bouquet to breadth.  I'm also a lifelong whiskey devotee; the tequila had been aged in old bourbon barrels, I tasted that.  There were notes of vanilla, I tasted that.  It was a light finish with minimal burn--all true!  I was beside myself.  I guess that's the difference between your run-of-the-mill restaurant and one that is chef-owned and managed.  I mean honestly, Rick Bayless knows his ish.  Every restauranteur should be forced to follow suit.

     This was the best dining experience I've come across since I started paying attention (somewhere after high school--during college?).  Our server, Maria, was attentive, knowledgeable, and fast.  She must've had ten tables, but she was sure to come by and check on us.  She was funny without being overbearing.  She was smart without being condescending.  She was fast without making us feel rushed. 

     The atmosphere was also incredible.  With Mexican, it's easy to go overboard.  You know what I mean, your standard two hundred Corona/Tecate/Modelo signs, eighty thousand silk flowers and cacti, thirty-four Día de los Muertos masks, and about twenty servers in cheesed-up ruffles.  Frontera Grill was devoid of all that clutter.  The paint scheme was relatively standard, and decor was apropos, and there weren't five thousand things jumping off the wall to get my attention.  No mariachi harassing birthday people, either.  

    Unfortunately, this sets the bar pretty high, but I'll be sure to bear that in mind upon my next review.  All in all, I give Frontera Grill five out of five stars *****.  I was thoroughly impressed and giddy.  I hope to have many great experiences when I undoubtedly return.