Rick Bayless
Frontera Grill; Topolobampo; Frontera Fresco
Chicago IL
http://www.fronterakitchens.com
Rick Bayless was literally born into the restaurant business and worked in his parents’ Oklahoma City Hickory House Restaurant as he grew up. Then he veered in another direction: linguistics. In the middle of his dissertation research he veered right back to the professional kitchen, becoming a cooking instructor, caterer, and host of PBS’ “Cooking Mexican” TV series. His training in Spanish helped him in his grassroots exploration of Mexico’s rich regional cooking, and for four years he and his wife Deann explored, town by town, logging over 35,000 miles. What they learned they set forth in their book, Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico. Authentic Mexican went on to win second place as Best International Cookbook 1988, and was a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club.
The rich bright flavors, colors, and textures of authentic Mexican dishes are served up nightly at the Baylesses’ casual Frontera Grill and the dressier Topolobampo. The New York Times said Topolobampo was “the most elegant and serious Mexican restaurant in the country.” Mimi Sheraton of Conde Nast Traveler has consistently chosen Frontera/Topolobampo among the top fifty restaurants in the U.S., praising “the best Mexican food I’ve had outside Mexico.” In late 1993, the Baylesses opened Zinfandel with Drew and Susan Gross, featuring regional American cuisine. Moving on, Frontera Fresco was added to the Frontera restaurant family. Then there are the books, TV shows, DVDs, the foods, the Frontera Farmer Foundation…..
Rick Bayless was featured as one of Food and Wine’s “Ten Best New Chefs 1988,” and was chosen “America’s Best Chef/Midwest” by the James Beard Foundation in 1991. Restaurants and Institutions awarded an Ivy Award in 1991; pick your year and you’ll find Frontera Grill and Topolobampo on the “Best” list of Chicago restaurants in the Zagat Guide. Bayless and the food at his restaurants have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, Food & Wine, Food Arts, Nation’s Restaurant News, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Cook’s, Entrepreneur, Esquire, GQ, and Family Circle, and celebrated in many newspaper stories. In August 2008 Rick Bayless was inducted into the Chefs Hall of Fame at the Chicago Culinary Museum, among the earliest chefs to be so honored.
