Tag Archives: Andres Padilla

Let Topolo Take You to Another Oaxaca

Posted September 23, 2015by Casey Cora

Oysters on the Coast: Shigoku oysters, homemade chamoy (guajillo, apricot, lime), tomatillo-mezcal raspado, sal de guzano

Taco Corridor: Wood-grilled ribeye tasajo and pork chorizo, Fermín Ibérico smoked pork loin, avocado-chile de agua salsa, grilled knob onions, charred tlayudas, cucumber, radish

Caldo de Piedra: “Stone soup” of wild mushrooms, ayocote beans, local squash, Oaxacan dumplings, black garlic broth

Fish a la Talla: Wood–grilled walleye, red chile adobo and chipotle-garlic mayo, fresh tomato-arbol sauce, warmed romaine and radishes with butter and lime

Shortrib, Estofado de Boda: Gilded slow-cooked shortrib, estofado de boda (ancho and guajillo chile, three fruits, tomato, sweet spices), custardy plantain, turnip espuma, charred pineapple

Frozen Hillside: Sorbet of prickly pear cactus and lime, sweetened tomatillo water, Honey Crisp apple salsa

Mole Dulce: Spiced buttercream, Oaxacan chocolate ice cream, red mole

Oaxaca is legendary among Mexico’s regional cuisine. It is, of course, the land of the SEVEN MOLES! But it’s a whole lot more. And that’s where Topolo’s latest menu will take you.

First we head to to the beach for oysters and a little mezcal. Then we’re off to the infamous, smoke-filled “taco corridor” in downtown Oaxaca City for a little primal goodness.

In the Chinantec highlands, there’s a rustic “stone soup” cooked right in its serving vessel, a technique we’ve emulated at your table.

And all along the Pacific coast, folks are grilling red chile-glazed fish a la talla over wood fires.

Out in the wind-swept Isthmus of Tehuantepec cooks spend days creating ceremonial estofado de boda.

But wait! No mole on the Oaxacan tasting menu? Yes, a little chocolate-laced mole coloradito—perhaps a touch sweeter and chocolatier than usual—with your spiced layer cake and Oaxacan chocolate ice cream.

Expect anything — Oaxaca is always filled with surprises.

The Reader’s Readers Pick Rick

Posted June 25, 2015by Casey Cora

We’re on the Chicago Reader’s radar.

The venerable alt-weekly just published its annual “Best of Chicago” issue and our very own Rick Bayless topped the readers’ poll for Best Chef. Check it out here.

Thanks, readers!

The whole “Best of Food and Drink” is worth a read, as it highlights some of the coolest, undiscovered, offbeat and/or important players in the city’s food scene. And the quick feature on Nance Klehm’s ambitious food waste and composting program gets a special shout-out, which we think is awesome.

In a separate feature, food critic Mike Sula cooked the Mole de Olla recipe from Rick’s latest cookbook More Mexican Everyday, praising the slow-cooker soup as “magnificently rich and deeply beefy.”

“I’ve cooked out of all of [Bayless’s nine] cookbooks, and I’ve not once come across a bunk recipe,” he writes.

And let’s not forget that last month, our chef de cuisine Andres Padilla earned a victory at the publication’s “Key Ingredient Cookoff” in the “Best use of Cactus” category for preparing a spicy, umami-packed take on ensalada de nopal (cactus salad).

So thanks again to the readers of the Reader. You keep doing your thing and we’ll keep doing ours.

Photo Illustration: Colleen Durkin for the Chicago Reader

Topolo Earns Four More Stars From the Chicago Tribune

Posted June 23, 2015by Casey Cora

UNTITLED (Detail) Simon Sparrow (1925-2000)

DESIRE Once is Not Enough Puckery cucumber ice, sweet-spicy sea scallop, lime-infused jicama, smoked pineapple, sour salted plum, sweet honey Manila mango, edible gold leaf, toasted hazelnuts

MAGIC ACT Rubén Leyva (b. 1953)

EXUBERANCE Spring Has Sprung A riot of herbs and flowers, creamy green "flan" (local goat milk and cheese, garlic chives and ramps), trout roe, fresh peas and shaved asparagus

UNTITLED Paula Pia Martinez

COMFORT Beans and Rice Heirloom Mexican beans three ways (creamy white been puree, three varieties braised whole, chipotle-black bean sauce), crispy homemade rice-sesame cracker, house-cured suckling pig ham, aromatic wild ramp mojo

UNTITLED (Detail) Filemón Santiago (b. 1958)

WONDER All's Right Wood-grilled Alaskan halibut, rich-and-meaty roasted poblano broth, spring snap peas and favas, spicy chamomile-infused carrot crema, pea tendrils

THE CRY (Detail) Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991)

SURPRISE After the Fall Black garlic-glazed lamb shoulder and freshwater eel, black zapote sauce, black salsa (chile pasado, cuttlefish ink, roasted rhubarb), yesterday's bread, charred broccoli

WOMAN CARRYING A CATHEDRAL Felipe Morales (b. 1959)

Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel has bestowed some lavish praise on Topolo in years past.

Last year’s four-star review, the one where our fearless chef de cuisine Andres Padilla was credited for “triumphs of technique and scholarship that stimulate the mind as much as they do the palate,” simply blew us away.

Imagine our delight, then, when Vettel published his latest review of our Art Menu, a seven-course culinary journey designed to elicit an emotional response.

The verdict? Four stars.

“‘Art,’ ultimately, is fascinating,” Vettel writes. “It’s Topolobampo’s most overtly collaborative menu ever, and shines a well-deserved light on lesser known members of Topolo’s team (Bayless’ name isn’t associated with a single dish, and Padilla’s only once).”

As Rick put it, we’re “button-busting proud” that our sous chefs, those hardworking creative souls, are not only credited by name in the review (how often does that happen?) but that their contributions to this special menu were so incredibly well-received.

Of Lisa Despres’ opening dish, a “tart, teasing plate” appropriately named “Once is Not Enough,” Vettel said “there’s enough heat and acidity in the dish to make one salivate, and, true to the title, I wanted more of this.”

Pastry chef Adriana Martell’s dish, called “Birthday Party,” is “a symphony of chocolate and coffee flavors,” while Joel Ramirez’s “Spring Has Sprung” is described as an “explosion of “herbs, vegetables and flowers.”

For Vettel, Ramirez’s “After the Fall” dish was the “best dish of the night” for it’s “remarkable composition” of lamb and eel, as well as the daring, suprising manner in which it’s plated.

As ever, sommelier Jill Gubesch’s wine picks, are “unerring.”

News of the four-star review broke while Rick was out of the country.

But in this electronic age, news travels fast and transcends time zones, so Topolo’s guiding force was quick to post his kudos to his staff by way of his popular Facebook page.

“I’m button-busting proud, not just because I’m chef-owner of the place,” Rick wrote, “but because Mr. Vettel focused on each of the brilliant chefs who created these stunning dishes that explore flavor, art and emotion.”

Topolo’s Chefs Get Evocative with the 2015 Art Menu

Posted May 27, 2015by Casey Cora

UNTITLED (Detail) Simon Sparrow (1925-2000)

DESIRE Once is Not Enough Puckery cucumber ice, sweet-spicy sea scallop, lime-infused jicama, smoked pineapple, sour salted plum, sweet honey Manila mango, edible gold leaf, toasted hazelnuts

MAGIC ACT Rubén Leyva (b. 1953)

EXUBERANCE Spring Has Sprung A riot of herbs and flowers, creamy green "flan" (local goat milk and cheese, garlic chives and ramps), trout roe, fresh peas and shaved asparagus

UNTITLED Paula Pia Martinez

UNTITLED (Detail) Filemón Santiago (b. 1958)

WONDER All's Right Wood-grilled Alaskan halibut, rich-and-meaty roasted poblano broth, spring snap peas and favas, spicy chamomile-infused carrot crema, pea tendrils

THE CRY (Detail) Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991)

WOMAN CARRYING A CATHEDRAL Felipe Morales (b. 1959)

“Draw what you see; paint what you feel.” – Francis Boag

Let us now alter the artist’s bromide to explain the challenge issued to Topolobampo’s chefs for creating the restaurant’s 2015 Art Menu: “Cook what you see; taste what you feel.”

“Much like absorbing an intriguing painting, eating brings forth powerful bursts of emotion. That’s the territory we’re exploring here,” said Chef Rick Bayless.

The concept for the 2015 Art Menu began when Rick asked Topolo chefs Andres Padilla, Joel Ramirez, Lisa Despres and Adriana Martell to list the different feelings associated with dishes they love to eat.

They eventually settled on six: desire, exuberance, comfort, surprise, wonder and nostalgia, tying each emotion to a painting found in the plush collection of Mexican art adorning the restaurant’s walls.

The tasting menu begins with Lisa Despres’ “Once is Not Enough,” blending sweet, sour, spicy, smoky and salty flavors that will leave you desiring ever more. It ends with Martell’s magic, nostalgic “Birthday Party,” which arrives at the table like a fine dining dessert but with one bite transports you immediately back to warm, wistful childhood.

In between, the dishes will take diners on a journey designed to elicit an emotional response. The full menu, complete with descriptions, can be viewed here.

We invite you to experience it for yourself.

To make a reservation, visit this page or call us at (312) 661-1434.