Jokingly I suggest to Ricardo Caballero that his Mexican cooking is so distinctive because he spent so many years working at French restaurants.
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Listening to him recount his remarkable string of restaurant gigs is like hearing an oral history of the city’s fine-dining scene during the last third of the century. He crossed the border in 1964 at age 15, landing a busboy job at the Como Inn. Three years later he made waiter at Eli’s, the still-great steakhouse. Then it was on to Jacques, the elegant operation at 900 N. Michigan run by Ray Castro, then the city’s potentate of high cuisine. Caballero continued on to the rest of the Castro group: Cafe de Paris, Mon Petit, the Sea Gull–all viewed as top-of-the-line eateries until the 70s, when Jovan Trboyevic revolutionized the Chicago dining scene with his nouvelle cuisine at Jovan and later Le Perroquet. Caballero moved onward and upward to those haute citadels as well, with stops at Doro’s, the city’s first really fancy Italian spot, and the great old bistros La Cheminee on Dearborn and L’Escargot on Halsted. Also to Arnie’s and to Morton’s steakhouse–even to La Mer, the exquisite French seafood spot run by Morton with Jean Banchet, perhaps the finest chef ever to work in the Chicago area.
Caballero’s round, mustachioed face beams as he recites the long list. “I always told my relatives back home, ‘You can always find a job in Chicago!’”
Even standard dishes are especially well rendered, distinguished by Caballero’s choice of seasonings. The complimentary salsa is spicy but complex, not overwhelming, in its heat–possibly the best I’ve tasted in town. The guacamole ($5.25) has a lovely, slightly chunky texture, fully seasoned but mild; if you like it hotter, a splash of the salsa does the trick. Queso fundido ($4.75), the molten chihuahua cheese fondue, is laden with crumbled chorizo and hit with a scattering of cilantro leaves for one of the best renderings of this lushly rich dish in recent memory. Caballero’s standard mole is based on a recipe from Oaxaca, birthplace of the seven great moles of Mexican cookery. It is dark and glistening, with great depth of flavor, excellent on the chicken ($9.95) and even better on the pork ($10.75). One surprising item on the standard appetizer menu will keep me coming back: grilled sweetbreads, which are finely chopped and served in pico de gallo, a blend of onion, tomato, and pepper. Wrapped in a tortilla, this dish is pure bliss ($5.50).
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Photo of Ricardo Caballero by Robert Drea.
