fdm - the restaurant

Deep in the “Openings and Closings” thread, fdm was mentioned on April 30:

wino66 wrote:Up on N Lincoln Ave, fdm has opened as of tonight. I drove by and almost missed it since the front is very minimalistic. Brick with "fdm" on a teak-backed sign. This is the new sister restaurant of Fonda del Mar in W Logan Square/Humboldt Park neighborhood mentioned here.

Similar menu with the house specialty Cochinita Pibil, but the Tikin Xic isn't on the menu at the new place, maybe as a rotating special? Great interior in clean, cream and tan tones.
It's currently BYOB while they wait on the license, so bring your bottles while you can...

Most every Friday, a group of my friends can be found at bar/restaurant for what we call the Impromptu Happy Hour. We usually don’t know the destination until Friday afternoon, which makes it impromptu. Today’s destination as fdm. As wino notes, it is a sister restaurant to Fonda del Mar. The menu (as found on the website below) has several of the Fonda del Mar favorites. Two friends had the trio de enmoladas (shredded beef enchilada topped with spicy mole poblano, shredded pork enchilada with mole verde, and black-bean-and-sweet-plantain enchilada topped with mole negro). They thought the beef was a little chewy, but thought the moles were flavorful. Another friend had the conchita pibil. He cleaned his plate. One person had the fish tacos and declared them “okay.” Mr. X had the tortitas de jaiba (lump crab cakes with chipotle-sour cream, avocado mayonnaise topped with pickled vegetables). They were a little over done. He and I split the trio of empanadas (three fresh masa empanadas, stuffed with fresh, seasoned shrimp, shredded chipotle beef, and squash blossom and chihuahua cheese.) We liked the fillings, but I thought the masa tasted flour-y. For my main dish, I went for the calamar relleno de huitlacoche (stuffed squid with mexican corn-truffle pudding served with citrusy arugula and cascabel pepper oil.) The squid was amazingly tender and I really enjoyed the “pudding.”

We tried four of the desserts with the chocolate maya (homemade semi– sweet-chocolate baked custard with chile ancho-orange sauce and fresh fruit) and the coconut flan taking top honors at the table.

I hadn’t realized until the end of the meal, but they are running a summer special on their house and the fruit of the day margaritas for $5 each. They also offer a $25 three-course prix fixe Monday – Thursday and has wine specials on Monday and Tuesday.

It is a rather stark space – white walls, blond chairs. It was also pretty much empty for the 2 ½ hours we were there. I suspect noise could be a problem with a full restaurant. I would definitely go back, especially since it’s easier for me to get to than Fonda del Mar.

fdm
3908 N. Lincoln Ave
773-348-7635

http://www.fdmrestaurant.com/index.html