Tacos are the New Cupcakes

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OK maybe not quite but it seems to me as if designer tacos are all the rage. Twice this past week I have enjoyed tacos at Goose Island and LEYE's very own Hub 51 and this morning I received an email from a friend about C-House's $9 2 tacos and a beer promotion on Wednesdays and then later on in the day, I read the post in Chicago Magazine's Dish about the May opening of a Chicago version of Mercadito, a NY based chain of taquerias. Reel Club and Shaw's (both LEYE owned restaurants) also have tacos on their menus. Reel Club serves $1.50 fish tacos M-F from 3-6 pm and Shaw's offers 2 lunch time taco platters for $14. I'm also hearing rave reviews about Randy Zweiban's spiced rubbed ahi tuna tacos at Province (I still have to make my way over there). And of course you have your tried and true places like Frontera Grill, Salpicon, De Cero and Carnivale.

Tacos have always been a reliable, comforting and satisfying way to tackle hunger without having to fork over a ton of cash. You can customize them with sauces, vegetables, cheese and whatever else suits your fancy and no two bites are ever the same. I have always been particularly fond of the $3 steak tacos at El Burrito Mexicano located underneath the Addison "L" stop. It was a favorite late night snack for me and my former roommate after a long day at work. Our favorite taco maker was this behemoth we nicknamed "Big Poppa" who vaguely resembled Horatio Sanz. We always giggled like school girls when we saw him manning the grill since he was a big guy and he did not believe in skimping on the steak. We took our tacos home, parked ourselves in front of the TV and ate as we zoned out to an episode of Elimidate. Oh, those were the days. Tacos do indeed provide a lot of comfort when you need it.

Of course, these new tacos are nothing like El Burrito Mexicano or La Pasadita tacos. Just as designer cupcakes resemble nothing our mothers ever baked for us, designer tacos offer their own unique spin on a comfort classic. Perhaps we will see exotic ingredients like pork belly, goat, oxtail or duck and unique condiments like curry wasabi foam (OK, I made that one up but I bet you didn't expect to see creme brulee cupcakes either).

I love tacos so I'm very excited about this recent trend and in the spirit of all things wrapped in a delicious corn tortilla here are two taco-rrific wine picks.



2007 Naia Las Brisas - Spain $10
a lively, crisp and zippy blend of Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc and Viura. This is perfect for fish tacos served with limey salsas.





2006 - Cantina Valpantena Valpolicella Ripassa Torre del Falasco $14
I would describe this as a baby Amarone. The new wine is fermented or re-passed (ripasso) over the pressed raisinated skins of Amarone. This process imparts a slight rasiny flavor to the wine. The robust, black cherry and fig flavors would be great for steak tacos but the acidity will still play well with lime and tangy cheese.