In the latest installment on classic Chicago restaurants, Steve Dolinsky visited a River North establishment that has been cooking regional Mexican food for…
One of them has been cooking regional Mexican food for almost 40 years, according to NBC Chicago's Food Guy Steve Dolinsky.Rick Bayless took some heat early on as a white chef from Oklahoma, daring to cook regional Mexican food in the mid-80s. But he’s devoted his life to studying Mexican culture, teaching us all about the intricacies and nuance of the country’s food. And believe it or not, opening in River North in 1987 was considered a risky bet.
“I was super stressed when we opened up because the first table that came to our restaurant sat down, opened the menus, closed the menus, got up, said ‘This is not Mexican food, you’ll be out of business in six months,’” he said.“My mission from the very beginning was to represent the true breadth of Mexican food and present it in a contemporary way," he said.
“We had committed from day one to make all of the sauces the way all of the abuelitas in Mexico would make them for a special occasion,” said Bayless. “We double marinate that ribeye then we cook it over a wood fire. I grew up in barbecue; first piece of equipment I bought for the kitchen 37 years ago was a wood-burning grill because I love that flavor,” he said.“…and it has a green mole from the city of Querétaro, so you get some of that really smoky flavor with the complexity of the green mole and then the brightness of the pineapple salsa,” said Bayless.
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