Barrio - Restaurant Week

 

I love Chicago Restaurant Week.  It allows me to visit old favorites and try out new places at a price point less than I would normally pay.  In recent years, most of the restaurants that I have visited have been return trips, but I still visit the occasional new place.  One of the new places was Barrio, a Mexican place that is part of the DineAmic Group, the same group that runs Siena Tavern.  Like Siena Tavern, Barrio is run by a celebrity chef, another Top Chef Alum, Katsuji Tanabe.  I was a little baffled as to how a Japanese Chef came to be cooking Mexican food.  I have little issue with authenticity and am more concerned with whether the food at an individual restaurant tastes good.  A good chef should be able to cook just about anything well, I just think that some chefs are more comfortable with some styles of food than others.  I discovered later that Chef Tanabe had a Mexican mother and was raised in Mexico City, so it made a little more sense that he might gravitate toward Mexican food.  Located in the same building as Siena Tavern, Barrio has similar design elements.  It has both a modern and industrial look with references to Mexican style and some Japanese elements thrown in.  The dining room is large and open, but is also divided into several spaces with different styles.  The bar is separated from the main dining area with a screen and is large and oval with inlaid wood designs that reminded me of a combination of Mexican desert and Alice in Wonderland.  Both the Food and Liquor Menus are printed on single sheets of poster board about 11x17 inches in size and the Restaurant Week Menu came on another long and narrow sheet.  While there were several things on the main menu that looked good, I decided to reduce my choices and focus just on the Restaurant Week Menu to limit my choices.  In many cases, the Restaurant Week Menu is kind of a Best Of type of menu so I thought that it would give me some variety and an idea of what might be good.  The liquor menu had cocktails on the top divided between Traditional Cocktails and those made with Tequila and Mezcal, with beer and wine down menu.  I decided to start things off with a Mezcal based cocktail called Smoke Show, which started with Union Mezcal, continued with Ancho Reyes, a spicy liqueur using Ancho Chiles, Pur Likor, a German pear liqueur, Lime, and was garnished with a Dried Pear.  The drink was smoky and spicy with a fruity flavor and a tart finish.  I liked the taste of the cocktail even though I am generally not a fan of pears.  While I did like the flavor of the cocktail, I really didn't care for the dried pear garnish.  My issue with pears is not the flavor, but the texture, and the drying of the pear emphasized the grittiness that I dislike.

Even though I limited myself to the Restaurant Week Menu, I still had a bit of trouble making decisions as to what I wanted.  There were four items to choose from for the appetizer, four for main course, and a couple for dessert, and there wasn't anything that I could eliminate outright.  For my opening course I had a choice of Burrata (which isn't Mexican, but still looked good), Queso Fundido, Roasted Sweet Potato Guacamole, and Grilled Octopus.  I finally decided on the Grilled Octopus which was served with Crispy Papas (Potatoes), Agave-Jalapeno, and Roasted Tomato Mayo.  The octopus was meaty, the potatoes were large and had a nice crispy and salty exterior with a nice and firm interior, the agave-jalapeno sauce added some nice spice, and the roasted tomato mayo finished the dish off with a nice savory flavor.

For my main course, I had a choice of Forest Mushroom Tacos, Chicken Al Pastor Tacos, Diver Scallop, and Tamarind Beef Short Rib.  While everything here looked really good, I was able to limit my choices because I had had the Forest Mushroom Tacos at First Bites Bash, and while undoubtedly different, I had had Short Rib at Untitled.  I finally made my decision for the Chicken Al Pastor Tacos because I had already started with seafood with what turned out to be some very good grilled octopus.  The Chicken Al Pastor Tacos were served Deconstructed with Achiote Marinated Chicken, Pickled Onions, Avocado Rice, Crispy Kale, Agave Salsa Verde, Morita (Chipotle) Salsa, and Housemade Blue Corn Tortillas.  Everything was really good and went well together.  Because it was sent out deconstructed, I could put the tacos together in whatever combinations and whatever order I wanted.  My favorite construct was with rice on the bottom with chicken, onions, kale, and the morita salsa.  My only complaint is that I ran out of tortillas before I ran out of stuff to put in them.  It was okay though, because I just combined what was left and at it as it was off the plate.

Before I had my dessert, I decided to order another cocktail, this time from the Traditional list.  As I like Gin, I decided to try out their gin cocktail.  Called the Whispering Eve, it was kind of a spin on a Negroni, with Plymouth Gin, Combier Peche de Vigne (a peach liqueur with peaches grown in wine country, the Loire Valley), Campari, Lemon, and Thai Basil.  Negronis are pretty bitter, but the Combier Peche de Vigne added a little sweetness, and the Thai Basil added an Asian twist to it.  I generally have to prepare myself for a Negroni because it is so bitter.  The liqueur and the Thai basil moderated the bitterness and made it easier to drink.  That said, I did prefer the first cocktail better.

To finish things off, I had a choice between Churros and a Cocoa Taco.  I like both and both sounded good, so I just randomly decided to go with the Cocoa Taco.  Built in a Waffle Cone-style Taco Shell, It also had Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Brownie Crumble, Coconut Crema, Guajillo Caramel, and Coconut Toffee.  It was sweet and chewy, with a lot of textures and a very nice finish to a very good dinner.  I really enjoyed the food and drink here.  While things were spins on Classic Mexican cuisine, dishes were updated and made a little more modern and seasonal.  The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and willing to answer all of my  many questions.  I will definitely have to return for dinner, and also possibly for brunch.