Hooray for Iron Chefs!!

As I was composing this post in my tired brain, with the idea that I'd finally cracked the Iron Chef restaurant threshold, it suddenly dawned on me that I've already dined at three Iron Chef restaurants:  Mario Batali's Otto, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill and Michael Symon's b spot, plus a Top Chef Master's eatery, Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill.  Who knew??  Well, I did, clearly, but I forgot.  And I so enjoyed them all, too!  But all summer, I've been thinking about getting to Top Chef, Iron Chef and Chopped judges' restaurants (um, hello, I need to get to a Geoffrey Zakarian restaurant asap!), and I haven't made it to one.  Yet.  At least, I haven't made it to one this summer in New York...

I was in Chicago recently for work, and we just happened to stay at a hotel that was near Iron Chef Jose Garces' restaurant Mercat a la Planxa.  Hooray!  I happily made a reservation, hoping that my work chums would want some tapas a la Catalana.  Thankfully, they did.  And boy, did we enjoy our dinner.


After I made my reservation at Mercat, I got an e-mail from them, offering me a complimentary tapa.  I thought that was a nice touch and was happy to choose one.  We decided on the truita de patata, or Spanish omelet, with a saffron aioli.  We also ordered quite a few other little plates, but while we were deciding, we received a plate of pan con tomate.  Delicioso!  The bread was crispy and doughy at the same time, and the tomatoes and garlic were fresh fresh fresh.  This was truly a wonderful starter.

Along with our yummy Spanish omelet, which was warm and potato-y with a bright saffron aioli, we also got some white anchovies, in an amazing vinegary sauce, with pine nuts and olives.  I've never had a white anchovy.  I was surprised at how light they were, and the crunch of the pine nuts alongside them was great.  My chums got some meat dishes, including bacon-wrapped dates, some pork belly and quail with cherries, which looked amazing, and I also got a spinach dish, prepared in a sherry vinaigrette, with apples, currants and pine nuts.  It was gorgeous, along with being delicious.  So many flavors and textures - it was crispy and slightly sweet from the apples, sweeter still from the currants and bracing from the sherry.  Oh, and woody from the pine nuts.  What a yummy yummy dish. 

Oh, gosh another yummy yummy dish was the pulpo con potate, which was octopus and potato confit with Spanish paprika.  OMG.  SO good.  I seriously could've eaten five or six more plates of that dish.  My boss also ordered the heirloom tomato gazpacho, which came with crab.  A charming manager came over to serve it, which was fun - he had a great accent and was sweet describing the dish to us.  He also enjoyed how we oooohed and aaaaaaahed over how pretty it was.  And it was even more delicious than it was pretty.  The tomato taste was so strong, but not overpowering.  Just the slightest touch of sea salt brought out the tomato-y flavor even more.  I didn't get to try the crab (boss loved it!), but I would definitely order that dish myself next time. 

I give a HUGE thumbs up to Mercat a la Planxa, the food was amazing, the plating was artistic and beautiful, and the atmosphere of the space was lovely.  We did have a bit of a problem with our server - he forgot to bring a dish and then it took a couple of tries to remind him one of our plates was complimentary.  But that was a small quibble.  Our only regret was that we were too full to try dessert!  The dessert menu looked incredible!  I guess that means I have to go back when I'm in Chicago next month.  For research purposes, of course. :)

Enjoy some other Chicago photos that I think turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.  I'm looking forward to my next trip - I always enjoy myself in Chicago, especially in the food department...