This morning I managed to get a reservation at a restaurant I've been dreaming about for months (maybe even a year or more) - Frontera Grill. I've seen Chef Rick Bayless on Iron Chef America, hosting his show on PBS and we've even featured his menus on WildOats.com more than once. I'm a sucker for celebrity chef-type restaurants and even more so for Mexican cuisine, so a stop at Frontera was a no-brainer.
The past two days have been miserable in terms of eating organic here in the Windy City. Last night's meal was the greasiest fish and chips I've had since I lived in Swansea, Wales and I washed it down with 3, (count 'em - 3!) Crown and Ginger cocktails - courtesy of a vendor who was "treating" me. Today was a whole lot of HFCS-laden candy supplied at the conference and no lunch.
With a wee bit of a headache nagging me all day, I swore I would NOT drink at dinner tonight. Dessert, perhaps ... but I promised myself it would be a bubbly Pelligrino with dinner. Tomorrow is my big presentation at the conference, so I wanted to make sure I would feel tip top for it.
That is, until I flipped open the Frontera menu to discover a delightful concoction called a Blood Orange Margarita that featured fresh ORGANIC lime juice. How could I turn down my first opportunity to have an organic fruit? So, I went for it .... and man, was it delicious. Not too potent, so I'm not worried about ruining my speaking career tomorrow ... must have been the positive effects of the organic citrus outweighing the negative effects of Cointreau and Tequila.
Oh - and I actually caught a glimpse of Chef Bayless himself, winding through the narrow rows of tables. I thought maybe he would feel sorry for me, being the only person in the 20-table restaurant sitting alone, and stop by to greet me ... but he didn't. Heartless bastard.
So - cocktail was great (and I refrained from ordering a second round - yeah for personal restraint!) and dinner was amazing. Caramelized onions and poblano peppers is my new favorite addition to fish tacos. The bad news was that after all but licking the fresh mashed guacamole off my plate, I was too stuffed to order, let alone enjoy, the Tres Leches cake on the menu. Next time, I'll get a to-go.
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