Chicago Food Trucks

Food truck fever has been sweeping the US by storm. Whether it's down to a general revival of street food, a hankering after simpler and cheaper fare in these economically challenging times, or just the plain novelty-factor, it seems no city in the US is without a cavalcade of trucks serving food to its hungry residents. If you can think of a type of food, you'll probably find a truck that serves it.

I love the idea of food trucks; they democratise food by allowing easy access to a huge range of cuisines, which can be sampled in several locations across a city. So when I was in Chicago recently, I made sure to check out some of the city's food truck offerings.

Breakfast at XOCO, Chicago – Restaurant Review

Rick Bayless is a culinary legend in Chicago. He is one of the great champions of Mexican food in the US and has written six books on the subject. His Chicago restaurants have become perennial favourites and are always packed. Today his empire spans restaurants, as well as books, TV, food products, and a charitable foundation to support small sustainable farms. Bayless's food is also apparently a favourite of President Obama's, and his name was even rumoured to be on the short-list for the position of White House Executive Chef.

2010: My Ten Dishes of the Year

I sit writing this from a bitterly cold Oslo. Sunshine and warmth seem like a long-distant memory. Walking outside is a somewhat surreal experience as shadowy figures dressed in thick duvet-like jackets shuffle along the half-lit icy pavements. But it's not that bleak really. The winter solstice has just passed, and with it we can slowly expect the daylight hours to get longer and our depleted vitamin D supplies to be replenished. Christmas is just around the corner, and of course we have a fresh new year with all its challenges and delights to look forward to.

Now, what good would an end-of-year article be without some sort of look back at the year gone by? Yes folks, it's time for a clichéd top-ten list! Without further ado, I bring you my ten best restaurant dishes of 2010. Drum roll please.

In reverse order, these are:

10. Caviar with Crab and Shellfish Jelly – Joël Robuchon, Monte-Carlo

What a way to start a meal! A little trompe l'oeil that looks like a whole tin of sevruga caviar is, instead, caviar atop layers of shellfish jelly and sweet crab meat. A perfect blend of flavours – rich, luxurious and a blast to eat, making you feel like a billionaire oligarch. Mwah-ha-haa!

9. Yose Tofu – Yashin, London

This was perhaps the finest tofu I have ever tasted. Served still warm, and barely set, it came with freshly grated wasabi and diced tosazu jelly, whose tart acidity was a perfect complement to the clean and fresh flavour of the tofu. Within seconds, we had scraped the bowl clean, and promptly called the waiter over to order another one. Heavenly!

8. Tartaleta de Chocolate con Cajeta – Topolobampo, Chicago

Second best dessert of the year is from newly Michelin-starred chef Rick Bayless. This titan of Mexican cuisine is a favourite of President Obama and I can see why. This tart consisted of luxurious, silky-smooth, dark Mexican chocolate sat atop a thin layer of soft, gooey cajeta (goats' milk caramel). This ensemble was lightly sprinkled with flakes of salt and encased in crumbly pastry. Accompanying this was a scoop of goats' cheese ice cream, toasted marshmallows, and graham cracker 'gravel'. Who knew chocolate and goats' cheese would go so well together!

7. Mascarpone Cream, Sponge Pudding, Almond Foam, White Truffle from Alba – Hélène Darroze, London

The undisputed best dessert of the year was this innocent looking number from Hélène Darroze at the Connaught. The cool, sweetened mascarpone was offset by a warm, eggy, vanilla sponge pudding. The residual warmth of the rich sponge was just enough to bring out the flavour of the abundant Alba truffle shavings, so that those wonderful aromas enveloped everything. The almonds and oh-so-light almond foam added a touch of perfumed nuttiness and a variation in texture. When combined, the flavours were nothing short of breathtaking – think of it as 'trifle of the gods.'

6. O-toro nigiri – Sushi Dai, Tokyo

I thought I knew sushi until I ate sushi in Japan, and then I realised everything I knew about it was wrong. The main culprit was this simple piece of o-toro nigiri served to me at Sushi Dai in Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market. Pristine tuna (bought a few hours before) had a beautiful spider's web of rich marbling. Eating it was such a sensual experience; the cool flesh of the tuna juxtaposed by the perfectly al dente and lukewarm rice. I hardly needed to chew, the buttery tuna just melted on my tongue. Epic.

5. White Truffle Risotto – Launceston Place, London

Without doubt, the finest risotto I have ever had – rich and creamy with an oh-so-perfect consistency, full of that intoxicating white truffle aroma – I shall be having warm fuzzy dreams about this dish for a long time to come.

4. Guinea Fowl – Oscarsgate, Oslo

At this tiny Oslo restaurant, Swedish chef Björn Svensson is performing little miracles with food. Meltingly tender guinea fowl was served with apple purée, beetroot, and potato. Scandinavia on a plate.

3. Flame Grilled Mackerel with Cucumber, Celtic Mustard and Shiso – The Ledbury, London

A classic by The Ledbury's Brett Graham. This is the dish most people rave about. Mackerel can be a tricky fish to tame – its oily fishiness is always in danger of overwhelming the taste buds. Here the fish was cooked to perfection; the core of it was soft, almost sashimi like, while the skin magically retained a smokey crispness. Accompanying this was a little parcel of smoked eel wrapped in a translucent film of cucumber jelly. A lightly pickled cucumber and delicate leaves of shiso and coriander cress added the needed acidity. I was lost for words at how good this dish was – one of the real highlights of the meal. Magnificent!

2. Langoustine with Oyster, Parsley and Seawater Emulsion, and Rye Crumbs – Noma, Copenhagen

In July, I ate at Noma, and the "world's best restaurant" lived up to the hype and more. This dish brought the house down for me. The most perfect langoustine, barely cooked, was placed on a warm basalt stone that was dotted with small pearls of oyster, parsley and seawater emulsion. A purple powder of seaweed was sprinkled over the stone. This was a dish you eat with your hands and we were encouraged to "make art" as we dipped the langoustine in the emulsion. I closed my eyes and felt transported to a beach on a hot summer's day. Simply amazing.

And the winner of the Nordic Nibbler best restaurant dish of 2010 award is ... *opens envelope* ....

1. Black Truffle Explosion, Romaine, Parmesan – Alinea, Chicago

Alinea totally and utterly took my breath away. The level that head chef Grant Achatz is cooking at now is just astounding. Alinea is on another planet altogether. The Michelin gods saw fit to deign this restaurant with three stars in their inaugural guide to Chicago. Every dish of the meal I had there was stunning, but the standout dish for me was a one-bite symphony of flavour called 'Black Truffle Explosion.' A wafer thin ravioli was filled with the most intense warm black truffle broth. It was eaten in one bite, releasing a cascade of unworldly truffle flavours.


This exercise was actually a lot harder than I imagined. The highlight of the year for me was undoubtedly my meal at Alinea, and at least half of the list could easily have been dishes from the newly crowned three-Michelin star Chicago restaurant. But there were lots of other incredible highlights, and looking back I feel very lucky to have been able to sample such wonderful food. I'll be honest, part of me can't wait to see the back of 2010, it's been that sort of year, but looking back at some of the happy memories, maybe it hasn't been so bad after all?

So, what have been the standout dishes of the year for you? What is your top-ten food list of 2010?

Finally, here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Topolobampo, Chicago - Restaurant Review

I find it difficult to get excited about Mexican food. My experiences to date have led me to believe that it's the jackhammer of world cuisines. BANG, there are the onions, BOOM, there's some cumin, BOSH, there's the chilli kick. All big tastes and no subtlety, right? Rice, beans, corn and more beans, a sure-fire way to gastrointestinal distress. Admittedly, my experiences of Mexican food have occurred mainly in Europe, which can hardly lay claim to being the epicentre of Mexican cooking - for many on this side of the pond a Mexican meal consists of an Old El Paso taco kit and maybe some mashed avocados (I still have nightmares about a hastily consumed burrito at the now defunct Earl's Court Taco Bell in London). I suspect that this sort of 'Mexican' food is as unrecognisable to a Mexican as General Tso's chicken would be to a Chinese person. But surely there is more to Mexican food than this Tex-Mex rubbish? After all Mexico has a rich culinary tradition dating back over 21,000 years.

So when I found myself in Chicago recently, I jumped at the chance to have lunch at Rick Bayless's Topolobampo restaurant, which is billed as a 'fine dining' Mexican restaurant. I wanted to find out if my preconceived notions of Mexican food were indeed accurate and whether this cuisine could possess a refinement I had not yet encountered.

Before coming to Chicago I had vaguely heard of Bayless when his name was mentioned as a possible candidate for Executive Chef at The White House. I later found out that Rick Bayless is a legend in his own right and is possibly the greatest champion of authentic Mexican food in the US. His first restaurant, Frontera Grill, opened in Chicago in 1987 and is designed as a casual Mexican eatery. Topolobampo opened on the same site (they share the same front door and bar) two years later and was one of the first to offer high-end Mexican food in the US. Since then the Bayless empire has grown and now includes four restaurants (with two more set to open at O'Hare airport), book deals, TV shows and even his own line of branded food products.

Although located at the same site of the informal Frontera Grill restaurant, Topolobampo retains its own, more upscale style and feels distinctly separate from its next door sibling. The dining room is coloured in bold hues of red and gold, and even though we were here at lunchtime the lighting was subdued and the atmosphere intimate, although it was somewhat spoiled by the slightly cheesy fiesta-style music playing over the sound system.

We were given menus to peruse, accompanied by large glasses of ice water and some guacamole with tortilla chips. The chips were light and very moreish, and the guacamole was fresh with a pleasant, grassy perfume, although I felt it needed the addition of a bit more chilli and maybe some lime (ironic given how I've just complained about Mexican food being all about big flavours). We skipped the margaritas made table-side and opted instead for a watermelon and lime drink which was too sweet for me.

Guacamole and tortilla chips

For starters, Mrs. Nibbler had Coctel de Atún Tropical, which consisted of cubes of tuna sashimi, an avocado and tomatillo guacamole, and a mango and grapefruit salsa. I had to fight to get a bite of this as it was simply divine, bursting with fresh flavours. No single ingredient dominated this dish; it was perfectly balanced and very good indeed.

Coctel de Atún Tropical

I opted to start with Lake Okeechobee frog legs which came with a guajillo chilli-infused polenta-style tamale, shredded snap peas, microgreens, potato crisp and a chipotle-black bean sauce. This was nicely presented and looked very delicate and refined on the plate. The frogs' legs were perfectly cooked, succulent without being too watery. The tamale was soft and creamy with a pleasant, mild chilli bite and the sauce had a deep, smoky flavour to it. The microgreens were peppery and intensely flavoured. This was quite an unusual combination of flavours for me but I really liked this dish and felt it worked well. It was delicious.

Lake Okeechobee frog legs

For her main course, Mrs. Nibbler had Camarones al Mojo "Blanco y Negro", which sounds like something Austin Powers would eat and makes me chuckle childishly every time I say it ("you stole my mojo!"). This course was comprised of grilled gulf shrimp with a black and white mojo of black garlic, white garlic, olive oil, chipotle, and lime. This was served with Swiss chard, puffed quinoa and chives and was to be eaten wrapped in warm corn tortillas. Surprisingly, although not written on the menu nor mentioned by the waiter, this dish also came with grilled scallops. Now I love bivalves, but sadly Mrs. Nibbler doesn't and I'm guessing she wouldn't have ordered this dish if she knew it would feature them so heavily. However, this was actually a good thing for me as it meant I could indulge too. This was a pleasant enough dish but it was nothing special; it just felt too heavy, the presentation was poor, and the mojo tended to overwhelm all other flavours.

Camarones al Mojo "Blanco y Negro"

For my main course I had braised pork shoulder and belly with a blue corn pipián sauce (a sauce based on toasted pumpkin seeds) made with ancho and pasilla chillies. This was served with a white corn purée, black beans, avocado leaves, garlicky braised quelites (a spinach-like leaf), charred baby Iroquois white corn and sweet corn 'air'. I didn't really enjoy this dish at all, it just seemed so busy. The pork was overcooked, and I didn't care for the rough, dry texture of the corn purée. The sweet corn 'air' seemed pretentious, which would be forgivable if it had actually tasted of something. One redeeming factor was the charred baby Iroquois corn from Spence Farm, about 100 miles south of Chicago. This was wonderfully sweet, crisp and juicy. I could have munched on just a bowl of them all day.

Puerco en Pipián de Maiz Azul

On to dessert. At the waiter's recommendation we opted for the chocolate tart, but as we were getting full we decided to share it. Bad idea, as again Mrs. Nibbler and I had to fight over it. It was sensational. Luxurious, silky-smooth, dark Mexican chocolate sat atop a thin layer of soft, gooey cajeta (goat milk caramel). This ensemble was lightly sprinkled with flakes of salt and encased in crumbly pastry. Accompanying this was a scoop of goat cheese ice cream, toasted marshmallows, and graham cracker 'gravel'. Again a menu substitution we were not informed about, but this time it was a minor one as the tart came with plump blackberries instead of the advertised strawberries. The blend of flavours here was just amazing; the richness of the chocolate was nicely cut by the fresh saltiness of the goat cheese ice cream while the cajeta and marshmallows provided delicious bursts of sweetness. Who knew chocolate and goat cheese would go so well together! I finished with some excellent Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso, while Mrs. Nibbler enjoyed a rather decadent chocolate cappuccino made with Oaxacan chocolate.

Topolobampo dessert menu

Tartaleta de Chocolate con Cajeta

Lunch at Topolobampo certainly changed my perceptions of Mexican food. I was impressed by the depth of flavours achieved. The sauces in particular tasted complex, and were overlaid with a multitude of subtle tastes. The main courses were a disappointment though and were just not good enough to be called 'fine-dining' food. The starters and dessert showed some flashes of brilliance but I'd like to go back and try some other main courses before passing final judgement. So is Mexican haute cuisine possible? Based on my lunch at Topolobampo I would say that the jury's still out, but I look forward to learning more about this region's fascinating fare.

(Update 16.11.2010: Topolobampo was awarded a star in Michelin's inaugural guide to Chicago).

Food:         7 / 10

Service:      6 / 10

Ambiance:  7 / 10

Topolobampo

445 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL 60654

Tel: +1 312-661-1434