Friday Night Photos: Dinner at Topolobampo with Lydia and Ted

Months before we started making other plans for the 2009 BlogHer Conference, my blogging friend Lydia and I and Lydia’s charming husband Ted were making reservations for Topolobampo, the more upscale side of Top Chef Master’s winner Rick Bayless’ side-by-side signature restaurants in Chicago. We loved Topolobampo when we ate there, but when I came home there were so many things to talk about for Friday Night Photos like meeting food bloggers in Chicago, the completion of house renovations, and Garden Updates, that this post was delayed. I can’t find the menu I saved to help with descriptions of our tasting menu experience, but I do vividly remember the guacamole above, served with incredibly thin and crisp jicama and cucumber.

There were three tasting menu choices, but it ended up with Ted and I both choosing the same one, and Lydia making a different choice. This is Lydia’s appetizer, but no memory of what it was; any guesses?

This mole appetizer was delicious and gorgeous. All the sauces were carried to the table in little containers, then poured around the plate by a small army of servers who arrived to deliver each course.

Of course we tasted each other’s food with every course, and Lydia has this sweet corn soup, which was outstandingly good.

I have no memory at all of what this soup was that came with the menu Ted and I selected, except I remember I liked it, and the soup has something that looks like crab.

Lydia’s enjoyed this lobster dish that was her fish course; but I can’t remember anything else that was on the plate.

On both tasting menus we liked the meat courses the least, or maybe we were just getting full by then! This was the steak course for Lydia’s dinner.

This goat was the meat course for the menu Ted and I selected. This was my first time tasting goat, and I was underwhelmed, but I’d like to try it again before I make up my mind.

Lydia’s dessert plate had various incarnations of chocolate, including a foamy concoction and something that was kind of like a mousse.

The other dessert had caramel flavors, with little cannoli like pastries and ice cream., and of course the artfully drizzled sauce.

The meal ended with a little container of sweets from the kitchen. Getting these photos was a challenge, since the restaurant was rather dark, but all around us we noticed other diners also taking pictures.

We loved our evening at Topolobampo. If anyone reads this who has tried one of these tasting menus and has a better memory, please speak up in the comments with what you remember about these dishes!