del Toro - Wicker Pork

del Toro
1520 N. Damen Ave

i wasn't a big fan of MOD, and i'm sorta put off by the whole restaurant-as-nightclub/hotspot thing that seems to go hand in hand with trendy places, but whatever. oooh - spain's really big these days, let;s take the flavor of the week place from a few years ago and redo it with this weeks flavor!

we got to the place and it was super packed with douchebags and i started the night saying "this place is gonna get slammed on TFS", but eventually the food came, and i had to change my tune. the tapas were good. really good. the wine was good. really good, and it came in cool shaped glasses that were sort of like an abstracted coke glass. the croquetas were awesome, i espeically liked the serrano ham and also the pork with braised baby carrots.

as the night progresses the place thinned out and became more manageable. we had been seated in the front by the bar at a cocktail table since the wait was so long for real tables and it was cold because of the huge plate glass door.

i am looking forward to going back. my initial distate of the place was mostly rooted in the packed status of this being a new hotspot that everyone's trying to get into (it was on a tuesday at 8:30, i wouldnt have expected a 45 min - 1 hr wait for a table for 2!) perhaps reservations are in order - but i hate making reservations. i like to find things and choose them in on the spur of the moment like we did del toro.

i need to go back especially for the deserts. we were too full to get them (because i insisted on ordering the pork instead of going to desert). there was an amazing looking hot chocolate and churro dish, and about 4 others that i really wanted to try.

it's hip and trendy, but they have the chops to back it up. i wanted to shoot it down, but they get the thumbs up from me. i'll be seeing del toro again for sure.

oh and dear god, contrast to twist - night and day difference. del toro is sooo much better.