Wednesday, June 16, 2010

This Weekend: Do Good, Eat Well

There are two delicious fundraisers this weekend! On Saturday, June 19th Eat My Blog bakesale is back with even more contributors/bakers than last time! Then on Sunday, June 20th Nina's Foods, Vendy Awards winner, will be serving up some pambazo, pozole and more at Angeli Caffe in order to afford their own food truck!

Saturday, June 19th

This bakesale benefiting the LA Regional Food Bank is an epic one. With 85 bakers from foodbloggers to local bakeries including Plaisir and BakeLAB pitching in, the menu is looking mighty attractive. Momofuku crack pie or Kahlua cheesecake brownie, anyone? Or for the non-sweet-toothed, there are always bacon-wrapped breadsticks!

Come early so they don't run out!

Tender Greens, 8759 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. 10am-4pm.


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Sunday, June 20th

Ever since winning the Vendy's Awards, Nina's Foods has become popular. Too popular. Because of their popularity, they've been getting hounded by the authorities because ... well, they're not supposed to be selling on the streets.

But it would be such a shame to lose Nina's, one of LA's culinary gems! So Evan Kleiman from KCRW's Good Food wants to put Nina's in a truck. To do so, they're holding a fundraiser at Angeli Caffe this Sunday. So why not take your dad out for a pambazo on Father's Day? He'd probably like that better than frou frou brunch, no?

On the menu will be pambazos, gorditas with huitlacoche, pozole, Nina's salsa seca, and more! Drinks like agua de sandia and some beers will also be available.

Angeli Caffe, 2533 West 3rd Street, Suite 101, Los Angeles, California 90057. 11-3 PM

Monday, June 14, 2010

Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, Chicago

Serendipity would have it that the Amalfi hotel where I stayed at in Chicago was two blocks away from Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill and XOCO.

I decided to walk to Frontera Grill as soon as I checked into the hotel. The restaurant was packed, including the bar, but a bar seat for one is apparently pretty easy to come by. One advantage to dining solo (the disadvantage would be having a guy hitting on you while he's hiccuping, but that's another story ...).
I'm not sure what the theme was supposed to be, but the decor was rather ... unique, with some awesome-but-a-bit-creepy sculptures hanging by the ceiling, like this one:

The cocktail list at Frontera was pretty interesting. I started with Cerveza y Tamarindo ($10), since I don't come across 1) beer cocktails and 2)tamarind cocktails that often in the states.
This was made with fresh tamarind, Cazadores blanco tequila, and Ayinger "Ur-Weisse" heffe weizen. The tamarind lends the drink both body and tartness. Quite an interesting drink.

I wasn't used to eating alone at a new place and had a hard time deciding what I wanted to order. I narrowed it down to a few things and with the help of the bartender finally ordered the weekly special of the day:
Barbacoa de Borrego (red chile-marinated Crawford lamb slow-roasted in banana leaves, $23) - available on Thursdays.
Served with some warm corn tortillas, of course.
It was indeed a very good barbacoa, with the right flavor components. Despite having been marinated in red chile, it wasn't particularly spicy. I I found the tortillas a bit thicker than I would've preferred it, but the barbacoa itself was tender and very flavorful. t's just that the last time I had barbacoa I spent $8 instead of $23.

The people sitting next to me were gushing about the Topolo Margarita ($9), so oh, well, why not ...
Made with Sauza Commemorativo tequila, Gran Torres orange liqueur and housemade limonada, shaken at the table. A very good margarita, indeed.

"Sopa de frutas" (velvety tropical mamey-orange ice in guava, orange, and passionfruit afloat in passion fruit "broth", $7.50) sounded pretty light and I didn't want to leave and just review one dish, so I ordered it.
It didn't end up being as light as I expected, as passionfruit broth was actually a pretty thick puree.

It's undeniable that I had quite a good meal at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill. It had a fun vibe and a solid cocktail program, which may justify spending an extra $20 on Mexican food than I normally spend. Maybe. At least on my very first trip to Chicago, I didn't mind doing so.

Frontera Grill
449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 661-0381
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/grill.html
Frontera Grill on Urbanspoon

Chicago Restaurant Reviews

Alinea
Avec
The Aviary
Do-Rite Donuts
Frontera Grill
Giordano's Pizza
Longman and Eagle
Next Restaurant (Trio menu)
The Office (Grant Achatz')
Parson's Chicken and Fish (Logan Square)

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