Each day in December, I’m celebrating my best bites (and sips) in 2012, posted in chronological order.
Why it’s a Best Bite: Avec is one of those Chicago restaurant staples where strategy and patience are involved: no reservations, little space, legendary wait times. We arrived early on a Monday evening, in hopes of fitting in a few of the small plates that I’d heard so much about before making it to our Restaurant Week reservation elsewhere. Fortunately, there were four seats left at the end of the sleek wooden banquette, and this was the first dish I knew we had to order. These dates have already garnered a lot of attention over the past several years (including this mouthwatering video from Eater), so I’ll just say that every component is incredible. The chorizo interior and bacon exterior pack twice the meaty punch, and sopping up that piquillo-tomato sauce with the fresh bread is exceedingly satisfying.
The details: Avec, 615 W Randolph St., Chicago.
4 replies on “2012 Best Bite #6: Chorizo-stuffed dates, Avec”
[…] Chorizo-stuffed dates […]
[…] remind myself every single time that no, I still don’t need to buy four of the ready-to-bake stuffed dates from Avec to eat at home). PQM also makes outstanding sandwiches, and a friend and I decided to finally dine […]
[…] food world collectively squeal with delight. While I’ve already blogged about Avec’s legendary stuffed dates, which we ordered almost reflexively, the other stellar brunch plates merited a post of their own. […]
[…] Best Bite: It’s hard to outdo the chorizo-stuffed medjool dates: they’re not only Avec’s most popular menu item, but are also among the most iconic dishes in all of Chicago. The sweet-spicy-smoky combination of dates, bacon, chorizo, and tomato sauce is just as unstoppable now as when I wrote about it in this blog’s very first week. […]