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| Xoco's churros are hard to get. Photo: ehfisher/flicker. |
Rick Bayless, one of Chicago's top chefs and the winner of Bravo's "Top Chef Masters," is extending his gourmet Mexican empire to street food. Last week, he added XOCO (pronounced "Sho-Co") to his string of Windy City hot spots including Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. The latest aims to bring authentic Mexican tortas and caldos (sandwiches and soups) to the masses. How did it go over with the locals? The line snaked out the door.
When Slashfood swung by for after-dinner churros -- the delectable fried-dough treats sprinkled with sugar and spices -- it took three nights of trying to get in.
Bayless has said on his blog that he wanted a place on the menus for "flavors that aren't focused on the long-simmered moles and sauces that those restaurants specialize in; flavors that slap you in the face with their simple, bold brightness; flavors that you only find in Mexico from some of the street vendors and marketplace cooks."
XOCO gives the "Top Chef Masters" champ a new toy, a wood-burning oven for dishes that demand overnight cooking, like the delectable cochinita pibil: roasted suckling pig spiced with achiote and barbacoa.
XOCO is built around the oven. The small but sleek and welcoming restaurant adjoins his others, allowing Bayless to glide from one kitchen to the other. So there's a good chance the master himself is making your pepito torta, a tangle of braised tall-grass short ribs, caramelized onion, artisan Jack cheese, black beans and pickled jalapenos.
And the churros? The crinkled loops of dough are golden brown and dusted with a balance of sugar and cinnamon. The hot chocolate, made from beans ground on the premises, is creamy and spicy at the same time. There are several varieties, including Almendrado, which included a chocolate shot and almond milk, though we went for the traditional Aztec, which included chile and allspice with the fresh-ground chocolate.
Were you able to get into XOCO? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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9-17-2009 @2:35PM Nicole said... This is not a new thing.
The Chili Rellenos at Frontera were out of this world, but it took a while to find a day when you could have them at all because they always sold out quickly. You had to call ahead and see if that day was your lucky day!
-Nicole
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9-17-2009 @6:10PM sara said... embarrassed to say that the place has been open a week and a half and i have already been there three times. the tortas are great but the caldos are transcendent. and i have had three of the hot chocolates, the Almendrado, the Aztec, and the Barcelona and the first two far beat out the second. (I recomend the almendrado for dessert/evening and the aztec as a morning drink). The churros are great but they are totally elevated when dunked into the hot chocolate.
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9-17-2009 @6:54PM anita said... If you go at breakfast, there's basically no line at all, and plenty of churros. (Chef Bayless has mentioned this multiple times on his Twitter account.)
We went on the first day they were open and although we felt the tortas could use some fine-tuning (the chorizo-and-egg one was noticeably lacking in chorizo, which caused more than one guest to get upset -- one chewed out the GM in Spanish!) the churros and chocolate were out of this world. the sugar coating has ground Mexican chocolate in it... swoon.
Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marriedwithdinner/sets/72157622325101032/
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9-18-2009 @12:25PM cathi said... Luckily, I work near by, and I've already had several churros in the short time XOCO has been open. If you can get there in the morning or in the afternoon between lunch & dinner, you can walk right up to the counter and order your churros.
What we discovered yesterday: dip the churros into the Chocolate Negro Modelo ice cream. Prepare for your mind to be blown.
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