Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/665995
72 michiganavemag.com photography by anthony tumminello / eyeem via getty images THE ACE OF CERVEZA Renowned chef Ric Bayless embRaces beeR and baja with exciting side-by-side pRojects on Randolph stReet. By J.P. Anderson Foodies were abuzz last year at the news that celebrated chef Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Xoco) was teaming up with Constellation Brands to create a line of Mexican- inspired beers called Tocayo Brewing Company. Now, Bayless is doubling down on his passion for the beer scene by unveiling Cruz Blanca, a brewery specializing in French-style bières de garde, led by former Goose Island head brewer Jacob Sembrano and inspired by Strasbourg native Emil Dercher's 1869 spot of the same name in Mexico. "Brewing has become an extension of the kitchen," notes Bayless of his attraction to the craft, "and anything that touches the kitchen is interesting to me." In true Bayless fashion, the space will offer deliciousness in the form of Oaxacan-style tacos— think half-cured flank tasajo, red chile pork, and chorizo—plus smoky pasilla salsa, grilled cactus, and more, "all from about the tiniest kitchen you've ever seen." And that's just the half of it: Next door, another Bayless concept, Leña Brava, will focus on wood-fired Baja seafood, Baja wines, mezcals, and cocktails. The pair of concepts are Bayless's first on sizzling Randolph Street, and it's obvious he can't wait to join the party. "It's all happening over there," he says. "You can just feel the excitement." Cruz Blanca, 904-906 W. Randolph St.; Leña Brava, 900-902 W. Randolph St., 312-733-1975 . Goose Island veteran Jacob Sembrano is using a 10-barrel brewing system to create beers inspired by local and Mexican ingredients— think Mexican chocolate, Mexican lager yeast, citrus, and hominy—as well as brews influenced by European lagers and French-style bières de garde. SCENE Drink