A few weeks ago my wife took me to Topolobampo with friends for my 35th birthday. It was actually a birthday surprise, which was pretty damn cool! I’m not easy to surprise… Topolobampo is Rick Bayless’ fine dining Mexican restaurant in Chicago, the “upscale sister” to the Frontera Grill. The name comes from a port in Mexico that was also once home to a utopian colony in the late 1800s.

The atmosphere is really fantastic. It’s adjacent to Frontera, but much darker and more sedate. It’s quieter, which lends itself to good dinner conversation. Our server, Oliver, was friendly without being pushy, had excellent recommendations and was very attentive without being obnoxious. Oh, and Bayless himself was dining a few tables over, which is always a good sign.

Now, the food! My friend Ken had the Pato al Pasilla con Higos, which was a pan-roasted duck breast in a sauce made from pasilla chiles and figs, with a bacon and potento torda, green beans, and a fig-jicama salsa. It looked very delicious. His girlfriend Kelly had the Borrego en Mole Coloradito, which I was able to sample as well as part of the chef’s menu.

Since it was my birthday, my wife and I splurged and went with the degustation menu. I went all out, and got the wine pairings as well–and I’m glad I did!

The first course was Sopes de Papa con Mantarraya, which were these little potato-masa “boats” that were filled with a tomato braised skatewing. It was topped with some roasted tomatoes, capers and pickled jalapeno salad with queso fresco. They were delicious. The skatewing was perfect, and the potato-masa boats gave a nice texture contrast. This course was paired with a 2004 Nora Da Neve Albarino, a Spanish wine that was *perfect* with this course. Absolutely perfect. By itself, I think the wine was decent, but not something I’d normally drink, but it just matched the flavors of the tomato and and skatewing to perfection.

Next was Sopa Azteca de Hongos Silvestres, which as a wild mushroom broth, flavored with pasilla chiles, tomatos and epazote, with crispy torillas, mushrooms, and cheese. I wasn’t as impressed with this dish–it was server lukewarm, and I just prefer my soup hot. The taste of the broth was nice, and the cheese was fantastic. But overall, I was a little disappointed with the dish. It was paired with a 2004 Andrew Murray Vinyards “Enchante” from California, which was a nice pairing, but after the perfection of the first dish, my expectations were built up to expect more.

Fortunately, the next dish, Arroz a la Tumbada, was back on top. This was a Mexican “paella” which had mahimahi, shrimp, scallops, Dungeness crab and baby octopus, served over white rice with a roasted tomato-jalapeño salsa. Oh. Man. The seafood was perfectly cooked. I mean, perfect. The scallops were done to perfection, and all of the dishes components came together perfectly as one–not a collection of different ingredients. It was paired with a 2002 Joan D’Anguera “Finca L’Agrata” from Spain, which at first seemed an odd pairing–it’s a red, syrah/cab blend(?), a bright berry taste and a hint of pepper, not unlike a Zinfandel. It was quite tasty on it’s own, and it actually worked as a pairing, so I was pretty pleased.

The final dish was Borrego en Mole Coloradito, which was the lamb dish that Kelly had. The lamb was done to perfection, delicate and succulent. It was served in an ancho chile mole, with wild mushroom/chocolate tamales and spinach. The lamb itself was my favorite dish of the night. I’d never had lamb with a mole, but it was divine. The mole was one of the best I’ve ever had, and it was just fantastic with the lamb. The spinach was great (it be hard to mess up spinach!) but I really could have lived without the tamales. They didn’t look particularly appetizing, as they had a dark brown color and a shape that just–well, let’s say if you ran across them at the dog park… At first, I thought they were interesting, but after a bite or two, the mushroom and chocolate were just not working together well. Overall they were the biggest disappointment of the night. This dish was paired with a 2004 Betts & Scholl Grenache, from Australia, which wasn’t the best pairing of the night, but was solid.

Finally, we ended with a sample of desserts: a chocolate and banana tart with peanut frangipan, prickly pear ice cream with chocolate sauce, and a passionfruit panna cotta. The tart was good, but somewhat typical, and the prickly pear ice cream was pretty good. I’d never had prickly pear ice cream before but I would again. Really, though, it was the passionfruit panna cotta that really stood out, it was incredible. It was a great balance of sweet and tart, and was garnished with a thin slice of dried passionfruit that just put it over the top. I would have gladly traded the other two desserts for more of the passionfruit! The dessert was paired with a 2005 Hirschbach & Sohne “Binger St. Rochuskapelle”, an Eiswein from Germany. I may love German beer, but I really don’t care for German wine. If you like eiswein, it would probably be a good pairing, but I find it cloying.

Overall, I thought Topolobampo was really a fantastic dining experience. The atmosphere was exactly what I want in a fine dining restaurant: subtle and elegant. The staff were on their game and the service was excellent. And the food was out of this world. Yes, there were some “misses” on the degustation menu, but I think that’s to be expected. It means the Chef is taking some risks, and on some dishes, it really pays off, even if occasionally it doesn’t.

There was also a final surprise (my wife really went all out this year, did I mention how much I love her?!!) which was a copy of Mexico: One Plate at a Time that she had gotten Chef Bayless to personalize for me. A very cool 35th birthday, indeed.

So, if you’re looking for a great fine dining experience in Chicago with a great ethnic twist, I think Topolobampo is an excellent choice. I will definitely be returning!