Pleasant House

Chelsea’s Facebook entry, 09/10/09: Exhausted. Woke at 4 a.m. dreaming of hot chocolate and churros. Then tossed and turned for an hour thinking about last night’s cochinita pibil torta from Xoco and how it was one of the best sandwiches ever and when can I have another. Dios mio!

churros and Barcelona-style drinking chocolate

Wake me up before you Xoco. Wham! This is the second, big deal, chef-driven fast-casual concept to open, that I have noticed, in Chicago recently. The first was Urban Belly, which I wrote about here. Since my Urban Belly trip, Chef Kim has another fast-casual concept in the works called Belly Shack, and I’ll be sure to hit it soon after it opens. For now, I present to you Xoco, by Rick Bayless.

I’ve been watching the construction and planning process of Xoco online for a while, and last night Chelsea and I got to experience it firsthand. The nuts and bolts of the place are that it’s on Clark and Illinois, is self-service, serves a simple breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now, on to the interesting stuff.

Silly me, I thought that because there were no people waiting outside of the place it was not crowded. Wrong. The place was full. The line inside Xoco was at capacity, as were the seats. But watching how the line was handled, how orders were taken, how food was delivered, and how customers were shuttled to their seats pretty much summed up the moral of this restaurant tale: Xoco is done right.

We ordered a cochinita pibil torta from the woodburning oven, a short-rib red-chile soup, chips and guacamole, churros with extra-thick Barcelona-style drinking chocolate, and a couple of Bohemias. It was a full meal. If I were to compare this fast-casual concept to the last one I visited, I would have to call this one “deluxe” for its array of offerings, which include many beverage options–among them complimentary filtered sparkling and still water, homemade natural liquados, and coffee–and dessert in the form of fresh churros with fresh-bean drinking chocolate, pastries, and ice creams made with seasonal ingredients.

cochinita pibil torta

short-rib red-chile soup

The torta took us back to the Yucatan with its fiery heat and tangy pickled onions. The soup had a rich red broth with garden-fresh vegetables in it, and will be a great bone warmer in colder months. The guacamole was good, the churros were fun, and the chocolate was exquisite. The food was great–just as good, I’m sure, as it would have been at Frontera or Topolo, without the commitment of a full dining experience. Another fine-dining chef has now given us convenient access to his cuisine. My extra two cents on this one is that this is the first of many locations to come; this is a neatly packaged concept that I could see in any city.

We thanked Chef Rick, who was working the line as we made our way out. All the while Chelsea was ebullient over what she insisted was the best sandwich she has ever had and was brimming with excitement over a concept that demonstrated the results of doing something right. By doing everything right she means they didn’t cut any corners and did simple things according to the same high standards of their fine-dining establishments.

They planned everything meticulously, from the flow of customers to their offerings in this simple place with simple stuff. Meats were from sustainable sources, vegetables and herbs probably came from Rick’s own garden, cacao beans were ground on premises. The devil is in the details, no matter how complex or simple they may be. To sum up how powerful simplicity can be, think about this. Even if all you have is a simple one-dollar cookie, the same attention to detail will have gone into its conception.

churro station

fresh cocoa beans before their 5-hour melanging process

Restaurants like Xoco and Urban Belly are great places to grab a bite. But to me, they are more than that; they signify a phenomenon, one that is on the rise in a new world of fast-casual food places that put a real emphasis on the quality of the food. There are a lot of quick-service restaurants out there, but unfortunately they are just one step above fast food. Ingredients are cheap and items are often pre-assembled at commissaries, and these shortcuts are apparent in the final product. Make no mistake, places like Xoco and Urban Belly are run by real chefs whose mission is to serve soulful, homemade food. Sure, they no doubt want to make money, too, but they are going to make it on their terms, which means according to their high standards. I look forward to tasting the results of those who share the same philosophy. Who’s next?