A work colleague from Chicago was in town for some meetings and I was lucky enough to take her to dinner while she was here. She and I have bonded over our love of Food Network and Top Chef and all that jazz, so when I mentioned we could try out Iron Chef Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill, she perked right up! So downtown we went.
If you want to get a table right away, without making a reservation, get there around 5pm like we did. They weren't yet crazy busy, so we enjoyed an attentive wait staff and quiet conversation. Of course, it WAS a Monday night, but still. The joint was jumping by the time we left...
I started with the spiced pumpkin soup with toasted pepitas and canela crema. Jeepers, this was off.the.charts delicious! The soup was rich and warm, with a bit of heat in the background, and the crunch of the pepitas was great. I seriously could've eaten five or six bowls of that soup. Now that I'm writing about it, I may need to go back soon. My FF (fellow foodie) got the goat cheese 'queso fundido'. She let me take a taste (but I didn't get a photo) and it was amazing, too! It's so rich and cheesy, and the homemade blue corn tortilla chips they give you for dipping are salty and delicious. Yum yummy. 
In my time-honored tradition of ordering two appetizers so I can try more food, I then had the shrimp and roasted garlic corn tamale, with fresh corn and cilantro sauce. My goodness, this was ALSO incredibly yummy! It also had so many textures and layers of flavor. Normally, I'm not really a heavy cilantro girl, but this sauce was less pungent than raw cilantro tastes to me, and it offset the flavors in the tamale. There was quite a bit of roasted garlic in the tamale itself, but it wasn't overpowering at all. The deep garlicky sweetness matched the sweetness of the masa beautifully, then the crunch of the fresh corn took it to a whole other place. The shrimp had a delicious charred flavor and just paired beautifully with everything else. Again, could've eaten it all day. And the appetizer size was just right for me. Thumbs WAY up.
My FF loved her tuna dish, but again, I didn't get a photo of it. Have I told you about my aversion to tuna? Hmmmm. Anyway, I didn't taste it, of course, but it was a beautifully composed plate so I should've gotten a photo. Next time. We were both so full after our food that we couldn't even think of ordering dessert, which is too bad, because Mesa Grill's dessert menu looks amazing. So, next time, I'll have to stick with one appetizer and a dessert. And a margarita. Wow. I got the house margarita and when the server brought it, I thought, gee, that's tiny. (I guess I'm spoiled by the ginormous margaritas at Arriba Arriba.) But, yowza, that tiny margarita packed a punch! I was pretty tipsy! But definitely happy. We loved our evening at Mesa Grill and it was nice to really get to know my new FF.
We had a bunch of meetings on Tuesday, but we took a lunch break and went to Bond 45. I'd never been there before, but I've heard good things about it. The restaurant is large and airy, with lots of tables. As you walk to your table, off to the left is the antipasto bar. I SO should've gotten a photo of it! So many beautiful dishes!
The bread they brought to our table was delicious, as was the olive oil they poured for our dunking pleasure. To start, my FF and I shared a platter of freshly made burrata cheese and prosciutto (well, I didn't have the prosciutto, even though I wanted to - I tried to stay vegetarian-ish. I know. I had seafood.) Whee, that was some tasty burrata! So soft and delicious! There were five of us at the table, so we also got some fried artichokes for the table, which were also really tasty. Salty and crunchy. Yum. 
I probably should've gone with the three-course price fixe, but I was obsessed by that antipasto bar. So I ordered the two vegetables/one seafood option - I got the caponata, the whole wheat couscous and the grilled calamari. The caponata was amazing - I just love that deep rich flavor of eggplant and tomato paste. There were also golden raisins in this one and they were great. The couscous was good, though a tad dry and sandy, with lots of vegetables in it. I was really disappointed in the grilled calamari though. It was really tough and flavorless. I kept thinking about episodes of Chopped that feature calamari and they talk about how calamari goes from great to bad in a matter of seconds. I'm guessing that's what happened here. I probably won't be ordering that again. Maybe a pasta. But everyone else in my party loved their entrees, so I guess I just got the less good luck of the draw.
A couple of folks at the table did get the price fixe, so for dessert, I got to share in a tiramisu. It was delicious, very squishy and chocolately and creamy. It's hard to mess up tiramisu. My cappuccino was also tasty, though pretty small. On the whole, though, Bond 45 is yummy. I will admit that I thought the menu a bit pricey, but I would go back for a work lunch anytime. :)
After talking about all that food, now I'm wondering what to have for dinner. Until next time, enjoy some random photos from my jaunts about town...
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