Rick Bayless opens third Mexican restaurant

[isilzha]

Rick Bayless opens third Mexican restaurant in Chicago's River North
By Kevin Pang
Tribune reporter
September 9, 2009

Blocks away from where Queen Oprah and her merry band of melody-makers, the Black Eyed Peas, were reigning over our fair city on Tuesday, the man occupying America's culinary throne blessed his subjects by quietly slicing bread.

He is Rick Bayless: Chicago chef, goodwill ambassador to Mexican food, winner of a James Beard Award and cable cooking reality show -- in short, the country's most recognizable chef at the moment.

So, on the occasion of launching his third River North restaurant Tuesday, a Mexican street-foods counter joint called Xoco (pronounced SHO-koh), Bayless was on hand cooking in the open kitchen, in full view of the public, who helped turn a garden-variety restaurant opening into a camera-ready red carpet premiere.

It has been only a few months since Bayless, a name already known to foodies, gained mainstream recognition. He can thank Bravo TV and the six episodes of "Top Chef Masters" that included him. Bayless walked away with the $100,000 grand prize for his charity, Frontera Farmer Foundation.

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[Food Network Fan]

I would love to be able to go there. He's been tweeting about it for a while. Rick Bayless has to be the twittermaster.

[isilzha]

Rick Bayless' low-key Xoco delivers affordable excellence


Phil Vettel Food critic October 8, 2009


Good news for those who wait a half-hour or more to eat at Frontera Grill: Now there's a new Rick Bayless restaurant where you can wait a half-hour or more to eat.

Xoco, or "little sister" in Aztec, opened Sept. 8 to the kind of foodie buzz and media attention reserved for debuts of major restaurants, not counter-service, soup-and-sandwich operations. But when the name behind Xoco has just finished beating a gaggle of big-name chefs on television's "Top Chef Masters" and is opening his first new restaurant in 20 years (when Topolobampo opened), the usual rules don't apply.

Instead of Oprah and the Obamas, we should have sent Bayless to Copenhagen. Right now, the guy simply can't lose.

But even a guy on a hot streak can feel preopening pressure.

"Shaking in my boots is what I was," Bayless says. "I couldn't sleep for a week, thinking, 'What if this is a total flop?' For the first couple of weeks, it was me being on pins and needles all the time."

Well, given the food I sampled and the daily out-the-door lines, Mr. Bayless can exhale.

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[Pluff Mudder]

In the latest issue of Bon Appetit, I see where Aaron Sanchez is getting ready to open his third restaurant. Forgot the name of it, but the menu is based on Mexican street food. I would love to try either his or one of Rick's places.

[Food Network Fan]

Mexican and Italian are my favorites.