Mixteco Grill: a Mexican Adventure

Do you ever feel while eating at a restaurant that something really special is happening in the kitchen? That sort of feeling typically comes to me when I eat at a place for the first time and feel really really happy. This is exactly what happened last night while eating at Mixteco Grill, a newish Mexican restaurant in Chicago. I started with the Uchepos Gratinados, an addictive corn tamal with green poblano sauce and cheese. The green poblano sauce was sexy, flavorful and the tamal perfectly moist. I could have a hundred of these. Then, I had pork chops in a yellowish pumpkin seed infused mole. It was just terrific. Overall, a beautiful, creative and welcome addition to an already outstanding Mexican lineup in Chicago.

Comments

Paris, O Paris...

This is a brief post about what we ate on our recent lovely trip to Paris. We have made it to unbelievable restaurants, sampled amazing chocolates, saw beautiful art, walked romantic streets, and just had a great time. The restaurants we ate at are all in the nouveau French cuisine where the emphasis is on fresh, local, healthy,... and amazing. Arriving to our hotel, we head immediately to lunch at Ze Kitchen Gallery ... a funky and hip restaurant in St. Germain right a block from the Seine. The appetizers we chose were a play on raw fish. These dishes to me are as good as the fish you get, and they were wonderful (with a unique presentation): Asian flavors, mixed with slightly sweet and crunchy peels of cucumber, some radishes marinated green papaya and mango. Dora had the (raw) sardines, tomato and a ginger like sauce. It is slightly challenging to eat raw sardines as the fish is a little tough. Trout from Banka.... Sardines Cod... Rabbit! Desert... Ch...

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

I am not sure how you like yours, but I drink all kinds. The constant is that I never use any sugar and, I would ALWAYS rather have my coffee in a cafe, or a coffee shop. I guess growing up at our house, coffee was always a time to try and get whomever of your neighbors is around, assemble, eat pastries (some would smoke) and TALK. Invitations were yelled orally from balconies, except in the mornings where people take turns hosting the coffee hour (you can always go on Monday to so and so's house for coffee). Anyhow, things have changed a lot, some for the better (I think much better coffee) and some to the worse. Around here, we are blessed with amazing local roasters -like Metropolis and Intelligentsia- that supply the majority of our local coffee shops (See this for a brief description of the coffee scene here). The drink that I order more often than not is a double espresso with foam on top (or machiato - I find the descriptive name easier). Anyhow, on the right, you will find ...

Green City Market - Chicago

On a beautiful Saturday, enjoying rhubarb, honey and mint sorbet, we strolled in Lincoln Park among the crowds and between the organic stalls at Green City. So early in the season, the first days of Spring (yes, Spring in Chicago starts late), the Asparagus stole the show at the market. Can it get better?

Happy Foods Blog

Search This Blog