My one and only visit to Frontera Grill
Needed to get out of the house, talk a walk, enjoy some fresh air, and I decided to do it downtown. Snow was swirling so I chose to start on North Michigan, enjoying the late afternoon, the lights, the life on the street.
Ended up parking around the corner from Frontera, so as I returned to the car, I decided it was time to remedy this embarrassing gap in my restaurant resume. I had been to Topolobampo many times, but never to Frontera. By 515, the doors opened, and I pulled up to the bar. At least 10 years ago, I found myself at the (then-named) Mexican Fine Arts Museum at the end of an exhibition. Pure happenstance, and it also happened that they were having a silent auction of many of the works. beautiful pieces, day of the dead and other, ceramics, papier mache, vibrant, spectacular, and, as it turned out, very reasonably priced. So I began to bid on some. Caught my attention that someone else I recognized was there, and so I noticed Rick and Deanna, also bidding, though they were bidding on these very large dragons, and other big pieces that did not interest me at all. I think they went for around $400, btw, a steal for Bayless. My detailed ceramic skulls, skeleton candelabras, and papier mache taco stand of the damned skull went for 1/4 that.
It made me smile to see many of those pieces still on display in the restaurant.
My crab/shrimp cocktail also made me smile. Impeccable seafood, nice, smoky, heat, a very auspicious start. Not as thrilled with my Mezcal Margarita. Interesting and tasty, but the Mezcal was completely obscured by the limonada and other flavors - not easy to do, nor desirable, I wanted the smoky agave flavor up front. My next Margarita, I believe it was the Blue Agave, was sold as being pure citrus and it was fine, still completely obscuring the taste of the tequila, but it was more understandable. I was beginning to see a worrisome trend - this was a place that featured tequila and mezcal, but did not expect you to want to actually taste them.
Then came the Chile Relleno special. Great ingredients, nice preparation, but like the Mezcal I was left to wonder how a dish where chile is the primary ingredient could display so little chile taste. Nice flavors, good texture, but no heat, and in a tomato sauce that was mostly just tomato broth to my taste buds. So I asked for some salsa picante and they bought out the green and red - took a taste, still nothing. Slathered up my chiles with that and it gave a little more flavor, but still no heat at all. The bartender, observing the empty salsa bowls, asked it I would like some habanero, and I said, yes please. He felt obliged to clarify that habanero is really hot and was I sure. Yes, I said.
Finally, I got some heat, though as habanero salsas go, this was just mid-level.
$74 for my dinner, with tip and the two margaritas.
Perfect technique, excellent ingredients, and I probably would go back for the seafood again (probably not, but if I was there it would be ceviche, oysters, seafood cocktail for me), but otherwise my meal was Mexican for tourists, at tourist prices. As I have said before, I like Rick, think he has done great things, and do not begrudge him his success, but I cannot find a reason to spend 3 times as much as I would elsewhere for food that is clearly aimed at people who do not love the chile, and need to be warned twice before they get the habanero.
No question, I am not his target market, so I do not expect this is a surprise.
Did stop at Hoosier Mama on the way, as I almost always do when in the city these days, and back home my pie made it all better. That place deserves its own pedestal.
d
Feeling (south) loopy