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A reputation isn’t always a good thing—just ask any cast member of the Surreal Life. Even if your rep is good, it still leads to expectations. Chef Geno Bahena has had a good run in Chicago, with restaurants Chilpancingo and Ixcapuzalco earning him plenty of critical acclaim (though obviously not enough financial success for the now-closed Chilpancingo). His name is well-known enough that Mexican food–loving Chicagoans have plenty of reasons to expect greatness from him.
But at Tepatulco, his new, modestly designed restaurant in Lincoln Park, he seems to let his reputation do a lot of the work while he sits back. On one recent visit, I watched as the chef sat at the table next to mine, hanging out with friends, for the duration of my meal. Things in the kitchen that night seemed to move smoothly enough: The mixiote de borrego, a lamb stew so soft and luscious a newborn could eat it, arrived in a pasilla-pepper sauce that opened up on the palate, turning spicier and more complex with each bite. But when I tried the Chuleta de Puerco en Manchamanteles, a grilled pork chop in a chorizo-spiked mole manchamanteles and found it was cooked mere seconds away from being rubbery, I couldn’t help but shoot a look at Bahena. A look that said, “Dude. Get back in the kitchen.”
Of course, Bahena’s restaurants weren’t always built on his cooking skills. Often his mother, Clementina Flores, who made all the moles at his previous restaurants (and comes in occasionally to help out here), shared the spotlight. A few months ago Flores told me that Bahena is “the king of mole.” When I reminded her that she taught Bahena everything he knows, she waved my comments away. “He’s surpassed me,” she said.
I don’t know about that, but I will concede that Bahena’s moles are pretty fabulous. The mole verde at Tepatulco is spectacular: thick but not cloying, rich but complex, with all the green flavors of poblano chiles and the nuttiness of pumpkin seeds. The silky grilled salmon it came with wasn’t too shabby, either.
But there were just as many disappointments as there were successes. Picaditas de chapulines, a.k.a. sopes, promised “succulent grasshopper,” and they were there—a sprinkling of chopped-up rusty-red legs—but the dish was overpowered by the flavor of black beans. The pieces of sirloin, cactus and chicken in the molcajete surtido arrived limp and flavorless. Cheesecake flan was mostly delicious, but I couldn’t shake the slightly burnt taste from my mouth. A toasted coconut pie fared better.
Ironically, one of the most successful dishes I had from one of Chicago’s most high-profile, high-end Mexican chefs was the queso fundido—melted Oaxacan cheese flavored with oregano and chorizo. It’s a dish that you can’t help feeling could have been made in a frat boy’s microwave—in fact, I ordered another of Tepatulco’s good (but not incredible) margaritas while eating it, convinced that it would taste even better if I were drunk. But we tore through it sober, pleading with the server to bring us more of the toothsome, house-made tortillas. Maybe next time Bahena should do more of this 24-hour, hole-in-the-wall, Mexican-joint style of food. Now that would be unexpected.—David Tamarkin
2558 N Halsted St between Lill and Wrightwood Aves (773-472-7419). El: Brown, Purple (rush hrs), Red to Fullerton. Bus: 8, 11, 74. Lunch, dinner. Average main course: $16.
