Chikatana - Chicago
Chikatana combines the brilliance of Mexican cuisine with the bounty of the Midwestern harvest to take guests on a "journey through Mexico." Though billing itself as a "cantina," the food at Chikatana -- which highlights different regions in the Mexican food world -- is fare from the simple far you might expect.
Chikatana's culinary journey through Mexico begins with antojitos, little snacks that might simply provide something to nibble with cocktails or that might be a prelude to a larger (and fantastic) meal. Antojitos at Chikatana include chips, salsa and guacamole (por supuesto), but also less common drinking food/apps such as a salad of nopales (cactus paddles) or picaditas, which are corn meal boats filled with black beans and cheese and topped with inventive preparations including cauliflower chorizo and duck carnitas.
Duck carnitas are also presented in tacos with fennel slaw, salsa verde and shaved apple (didn't see that coming). Other must-try tacos include the cochinita pibil (slow-cooked pork from Yucatan) chicken mole (from Oaxaca) and fried shrimp (for a Baja-style fish taco). Another surprise is the taco of beer-battered walleye with Brussels sprout slaw, another mash-up of Mexican foodways and Midwestern produce.
The changing menu sometimes includes a king crab chili relleno, and if you spot that inventive twist on traditional Mexican cuisine, take it from us: you want it.
Timeout Chicago recommends that you "Stick around after dinner to sample drinks from Chikatana's agave-driven cocktail program, which focuses on the lesser-known agave spirits raicilla and sotol." There is, indeed, a fantastic selection of spirited cocktails at Chikatana. Let's Not Mints Words is an pleasing concoction of cocchi americano, Saint Elder, orange blossom, lime, fresh mint, sparkling water and snap pea cachaca (!). Reina Roja hibiscus is a cocktail of infused-charanda rum, pear brandy, allspice dram, falernum, vanilla, lemon, and cardamom for a spicy, tingly and warm sip that's right any time of year.
