Dec. 20th, 2015 09:42 pm
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muckefuckTurtle shared with us her New Year's resolution to do supper club at least ten times in the coming year. So I'm going to make it my resolution to blog all ten meals out, if only briefly. But since this resolution was made over the table at Cantina 1910, why wait?
There's been more than the usual amount of food press drama about this place. It was an ambitious and anticipated endeavour with a somewhat rocky launch that hasn't been made easier by the collision with locals' expectations. We saw this with Premise, another attempt to create a destination restaurant in Andersonville. I honestly don't understand why this is so difficult. As I ranted in the car tonight, "If Logan Square can become a destination for fine eating, why can't Andersonville?"![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu is adamant that you can't survive there without the support of people in the neighbourhood, so you have to make some kinds of concessions for them.
Judging by how empty the place was on a Sunday night, Cantina 1910 might need to start doing that. It's hard to say where it will be going since the chef departed with her sous-chef only three days ago, citing differences with the ownership. Meanwhile the staff are still executing the established menu, though whether or not to the same standard is an open question.
We had one serious clunker in our meal, dropped right intomonshu's tasty dish of stewed pork, pork belly, and beans: a half-dozen slices of tough near-flavourless pork loin. It was treated with so much less care than any other ingredient in any of the dishes we had (not rubbed, not brined, not sauced) that I wonder what it was even doing there.
On the other side of things was the arroz negro con huitlacoche. I couldn't even tell what all was in it, only that it was a beautiful mix of flavours and textures in every bite. Actually, from the moment the guacamole arrived, I knew were in good hands. Even the chips were outstanding. (One of the more common whines from unhappy Yelpers is apparently that they charge for chips and salsa.)
I was very happy we had a group and could share. I was deeply intrigued by the oxtail on a bone marrow tortilla, but that's too rich a dish for me to even think about ordering for myself. Instead I got a couple of tasty bites while depending on the squash tacos to do the heavy lifting of nourishing me. Nothing we had could really be called "spicy", but there was plenty of warmth from the use of chipotle, smoked paprika, and the like.
And since none of us our heavy eaters, it was all pretty reasonable: about $30 a head including tax and tip but not alcohol. (The Old Man had two glasses of whine, Turtle had a row of cocktails, Turtle Wife teetotaled, and I contented myself with a glass of soda mixed with the bartender's self-concocted hops-grapefruit bitters that seemed to be just the tonic for my upset stomach.) We shared the dessert, for instance, which was a few crunchy chunks of carrot cake and cubes of flan on a bed of rich rice pudding.
Will we make it back? At the rate we're going, it'd have to hang around another year before we'd return. (I only just made a return visit to Hopleaf this year thanks to Blondie coming to town.) I hope it does, but that's not looking like the way to bet.
There's been more than the usual amount of food press drama about this place. It was an ambitious and anticipated endeavour with a somewhat rocky launch that hasn't been made easier by the collision with locals' expectations. We saw this with Premise, another attempt to create a destination restaurant in Andersonville. I honestly don't understand why this is so difficult. As I ranted in the car tonight, "If Logan Square can become a destination for fine eating, why can't Andersonville?"
monshu is adamant that you can't survive there without the support of people in the neighbourhood, so you have to make some kinds of concessions for them.Judging by how empty the place was on a Sunday night, Cantina 1910 might need to start doing that. It's hard to say where it will be going since the chef departed with her sous-chef only three days ago, citing differences with the ownership. Meanwhile the staff are still executing the established menu, though whether or not to the same standard is an open question.
We had one serious clunker in our meal, dropped right into
monshu's tasty dish of stewed pork, pork belly, and beans: a half-dozen slices of tough near-flavourless pork loin. It was treated with so much less care than any other ingredient in any of the dishes we had (not rubbed, not brined, not sauced) that I wonder what it was even doing there.On the other side of things was the arroz negro con huitlacoche. I couldn't even tell what all was in it, only that it was a beautiful mix of flavours and textures in every bite. Actually, from the moment the guacamole arrived, I knew were in good hands. Even the chips were outstanding. (One of the more common whines from unhappy Yelpers is apparently that they charge for chips and salsa.)
I was very happy we had a group and could share. I was deeply intrigued by the oxtail on a bone marrow tortilla, but that's too rich a dish for me to even think about ordering for myself. Instead I got a couple of tasty bites while depending on the squash tacos to do the heavy lifting of nourishing me. Nothing we had could really be called "spicy", but there was plenty of warmth from the use of chipotle, smoked paprika, and the like.
And since none of us our heavy eaters, it was all pretty reasonable: about $30 a head including tax and tip but not alcohol. (The Old Man had two glasses of whine, Turtle had a row of cocktails, Turtle Wife teetotaled, and I contented myself with a glass of soda mixed with the bartender's self-concocted hops-grapefruit bitters that seemed to be just the tonic for my upset stomach.) We shared the dessert, for instance, which was a few crunchy chunks of carrot cake and cubes of flan on a bed of rich rice pudding.
Will we make it back? At the rate we're going, it'd have to hang around another year before we'd return. (I only just made a return visit to Hopleaf this year thanks to Blondie coming to town.) I hope it does, but that's not looking like the way to bet.
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