gourmet babble

This is an absolutely amazing restaurant. Rick Bayless may purportedly have a large ego in some ways, but this alone would hold him in good standing to have earned it. Imagine the approach taken in nouvelle cuisine and applied to mexican food, and you basically have the concept behind Topolobampo and the attached, lower-priced and more raucous Frontera Grill. Topolobampo, however, is in a class by itself. They have a huge kitchen where they do extreme processing of their own fresh supplies and save them for days, weeks, or even months when necessary — for instance, one type of tomato is necessary for some of their soups and sauces, so they buy literally tons of them during the month or so they are available, and then they process and flash freeze them themselves, storing them in their cellar freezers underneath the restaurants. Every ingredient tastes fresh and alive, and in balance and harmony. Their oysters are good, with fantastic sauces; their ceviches (and there are always three different ones available) are fresh, good, spicy, and interesting; and I have yet to have a less-than-stellar soup there. I cannot stress the sheer miraculousness here for me; they have taken quite literally my least favorite cuisine and made a restaurant I cannot wait to go back to. [Previously, I had a diatribe about their lack of quality wine, but I have since been shown that I was grievously in error in that regard and have thus excised it. –Scott 4 November 2006]

I had lunch here recently and it was amazing. The dinner I had previously had was apparently phenomenal even by their standards (went with a long-time fan of Topolo's), but this lunch definitely was in the same league. There is clearly a reason that Bayless won two James Beard awards in one year for this place. The habanero, cilantro, lime, and other-goodies-I-forget based ceviche of shrimp and calamari was potent and wonderful and the almond-thickened soup with seven or eight wonderfully complementary ingredients (yes, I should have taken notes, but I was too busy being in heaven at the time) was just glorious.

Have I said enough good things? I'll update the review next time I go again for dinner. In the meantime… go for yourself! [If you have the opportunity, ask to be seated with Oliver. He has, time and time again, proven to be an absolutely stellar guide through Topolo's rich cuisine and his recommendations are on-target. –Scott 4 November 2006]