Macarena

Anybody tried this tapas place on 59 in Aurora yet? I'm meeting friends there tonight and have heard good things so far.

Jean

Macarena Tapas
618 S. Route 59
Naperville, IL
630-420-8995

At the risk of seeming even more superficial than usual, the name is suspect.

Look forward to your review.

I have not yet tried it, but I also am hoping that you can report back with your findings. I, too, am a little suspect of the name. I believe that the dreaded Macarena dance still surfaces at wedding receptions in certain circles.

I know. I'm more than a little skeptical but I'm also hopeful! Let you know tomorrow.

Macarnea is an area of Seville. Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe not.

JeffB wrote:Macarnea is an area of Seville. Maybe that's a good sign. Maybe not.

If the intent of the restaurateurs was to reference a place in Seville and not the lame late 90's dance phenomenon, I'd say they made a major miscalculation.

Went last night. It is at the corner of 59 and Aurora next to For Eyes. They've done a beautiful job turning a strip mall space into an intimate, comfortable environment with Spanish guitar music playing in the background. Really beautiful with stunning reds, black and earthy colors. I tried several cold and several hot tapas.
Cold: Trio of soups, Marinated olives, Thin sliced pork loin, Marshmallow and Manchego cheese Napoleon.
Hot: Garlic mushrooms, grilled lamb chops, Empanadas de Chorizo, Shrimp and scallop skewers. I think this place has great potential. Everything we ordered was a cut above anything at Meson Sabika and more innovative. There were plenty of other choices on the menu and I'll be back to try them all. The desserts (I only looked, too full) are all made in house. They looked great and it was a nice assortment of the usual suspects (flan, creme brulee) plus tarte tatin, chocolate, and fruit concoctions.
Very interesting selections and according to the chef, he will continue to add new items to the menu. The chef, John Borras, has great credentials including some training with Ferran Adria. The chef de cuisine and pastry chef, Jose Marcial also trained in Barcelona and is a veteran of Meson Sabika. I'm not doing them justice in describing their backgrounds because it is quite extensive but you can find out about them yourselves by visiting their place. I'll be back.

^ Thank you for posting your review, and I'm glad that you had a positive experience. Sounds nice.

I hope that they can make a go of it. They had better start advertising and try to get the word out, being that they're not in downtown N'ville, and, IMO, will need to make somewhat of an effort to get people to come out that way. I have not seen them mentioned -- other than on this forum -- and it does not appear as though they have a website.

Very interesting selections and according to the chef, he will continue to add new items to the menu. The chef, John Borras, has great credentials including some training with Ferran Adria. The chef de cuisine and pastry chef, Jose Marcial also trained in Barcelona and is a veteran of Meson Sabika. I'm not doing them justice in describing their backgrounds because it is quite extensive but you can find out about them yourselves by visiting their place. I'll be back.

That "click" you just heard was Penny Pollack picking up her phone.

Great information - I don't think any of us expected a positive word, and I'm strangely pleased by the result.

For now anyway, the restaurant allows BYO with a corkage fee for bottles not on the wine list, and the fee is waived if the bottles aren't plonk (a respect issue, and one with which I wholeheartedly agree). It's probably best to call ahead if you plan to bring in a bottle or three.

Macarena Tapas
618 South Route 59
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 420-8995

It's next to Olive Garden, and across the street from Fox Valley Mall.

I did mention to them that nobody really knew anything about them yet. They said that they deliberately didn't do any advertising until they got some of the kinks out. The Naperville Sun interviewed them this week though and they are going to start advertising now.

The business card that the executive chef gave me lists a web site, www.macarenatapas.com, but it's not up and running yet. Here's his email if you have any questions: john.borras@johnborrascatering.com

I had an experience very similar to Jean's. Innovation was certainly head and shoulders above Sebika. We were there on one of their very first nights, and at that time, the only major flaw was that the garlic potato salad needed more garlic. I'll go back soon to see how that's coming along.

The all-Spanish wine list was also thoughtfully conceived, giving many unique (and delicious) options that I can't get at Binnys or even the boutique wine shops. That's such a rarity in Naperthrill.

There are some very interesting preparations here (plus, Sunday-Thursday, $2 Sangria -- this place is no longer BYOB).

Any comment on the chocolate covered shrimp other than interesting?

MLS wrote:Any comment on the chocolate covered shrimp other than interesting?

Chocolate-covered shrimp are a mistake.

The round balls are ham croquettes, and The Wife and I both thought them quite excellent, full of juice, nice crunch on the outside, and kind of cute. You might be able to see that they're dappled with honey, as are several other tapas, which works surprisingly well.

Not a bad spot, but not much value for the dollar. The place is always empty. I have had average service the two times I ate at macarena and the food was wildly hit-or-miss. I cannot recommend it. Sangrias taste like cheap carlo rossi wine, but I understant, is a $2 dollars sangria. The octopus was bland and also taste like chewing gum. I am not discouraging this place, for the value it's great (cheap prices) but just know that you are going to an very average restaurant, without the quality of Meson Sabica.

Pecorino wrote:...not much value for the dollar
...
for the value it's great

How do you reconcile these contradictory statements?

Pecorino wrote:I cannot recommend it.
...
I am not discouraging this place

Or these? (Okay, maybe you're ambivalent).

I went to Macarena on Friday and then again on Saturday. Both times the service was very attentive. Chef was very accessible and answered questions about the food, even what was going to be on the menu the next day. Both nights the room was filled (on Friday from about 6:00 to 7:30, and Saturday from about 5:30 to 7:30).

We had sangria on Friday, and the pitcher seemed like it was bottomless -- lots of sangria in there. It was lighter than other sangria I've had.

Food was good, but my friend on Friday did remark that she liked Macarena, but liked Meson Sabika better, but that the price was right at Macarena.

Macarena seems very committed to the sweet/savory vibe on every plate, and I don't think they need to carry the concept out to that extent. For example, we had grilled shrimp and scallop skewer, which was served with a rice krispie treat. The shrimp and scallops were very good, but the rkt? Just strange.

But overall, we liked the food we had -- I don't think any of the 8 or 9 things I had over the 2 nights were misses. It's nice to have a non-chain restaurant on Rte 59, it's convenient, the room is very warm and inviting, and service was good. Plus they have postcards which double as a 20% off coupon.

Pecorino wrote:Not a bad spot, but not much value for the dollar. The place is always empty. I have had average service the two times I ate at macarena and the food was wildly hit-or-miss. I cannot recommend it. Sangrias taste like cheap carlo rossi wine, but I understant, is a $2 dollars sangria. The octopus was bland and also taste like chewing gum. I am not discouraging this place, for the value it's great (cheap prices) but just know that you are going to an very average restaurant, without the quality of Meson Sabica.

It seems as though your experiences at Macarena have been dramatically different from what others recently have experienced and written about. In addition to Meson Sabika, what other restaurants in the area do you enjoy?

I went there by curiosity... I only new of Meson Sabika and I really don't like their food much, so I wanted to see if this place would be a little better. I was very surprised with the delicious tapas and desserts. What a beautiful hidden upscale restaurant!

I fell in love with the Salomillo in crust bread and the Octapus; the owner/exec. chef and his team are trully humbled and friendly and really tried to make my dining experience amazing. I already went back the same day for dinner! I brought with me my friends and we are making this place our regular dining spot. The menu is so diversed that you can always try something different every time and you'll love it.

I saw a nice review from the Daily Herald http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=81992

I loved it so much that I open a group on facebook if you want to check it out: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7495349318

The BnC and I finally had something to celebrate last night. At first she wanted to visit one of her old favorites, The Key Wester. Thankfully, traffic on Ogden forced me to detour through downtown Naperville to Aurora avenue.

As we passed Meson Sabika the BnC inquired about dining there. Remembering this thread I mentioned Macarena. Voila! I had saved myself from the evil Portillo's empire (outside of the hot dog locations I find the other concepts fairly vile). On to Macarena.

Here's what we ordered along with a few glasses of $2 Sangria

Marinated Artichokes - Basically your run of the mill marinated artichokes you can pick up at the local Jewel served with some balsamic vinegar. This was my least favorite of the night.

Stuffed Hearts of palm - Hollowed out sections of hearts of palm filled with a goat cheese mousse, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a balsamic vinaigrette with caper berries. The combinations of texture and flavor really surprised me. Flippy likes it!

Lamb Chops - Three grilled baby lamb chops served on a bed of sauteed spinach with a balsamic reduction and a light aioli. Rich, succulent, and delicious. This was my favorite of the evening. The wifey liked the spinach too.

Chorizo Empanadas - Your basic pastry stuffed with ground chorizo. Without the aioli that these were served with the empanadas would have been overpoweringly salty. With the sauce to cut through the empanadas became divine.

Ham Croquettes- Deep fried balls of cheese and ham (as pictured above, but our serving was only 4) This was a wonderful combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, and creamy. This is what Cheese Balls dream of becoming.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp - Served with a piquillo pepper aioli. This was fairly bland, but still enjoyable.

Cured Pork loin - The kitchen kindly gifted us with a smaller portion of this dish. As our waiter explained the loin is cured with paprika for over 15 months, sliced thin, served with Manchengo cheese and balsamic reduction. Can you go wrong with pork? This will definitely be on my list of items to order again in the future.

Desserts:

Flan - your typical caramel coated custard. I noticed a very bitter note in the finish, most likely due to a liberal dusting of cinamon.

Papillote - Homemade puff pastry filled with almonds, walnuts, pine nuts and spices, served with dried cranberries and orange slices with honey. If I could pick a dessert for myself this would be it. A wonderful combination of not-to-sweet and savoury, reminded me of baklava. YUM


I'm glad the BnC decided to take us on this adventure, and I'd gladly return again.

Flip

Flip wrote:Stuffed Hearts of palm - Hollowed out sections of hearts of palm filled with a goat cheese mousse, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a balsamic vinagrette with caper berries. The combinations of texture and flavor really surprised me. Flippy likes it!

I liked these delicate little palm innards, too. Usually, hearts of palm, for me, are meh, but these I liked: crisp and fresh and filled with complementary richness to balance the slight bitterness.

I'm assuming the chocolate-covered shrimp are off the menu?

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:

Flip wrote:Stuffed Hearts of palm - Hollowed out sections of hearts of palm filled with a goat cheese mousse, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a balsamic vinagrette with caper berries. The combinations of texture and flavor really surprised me. Flippy likes it!

I liked these delicate little palm innards, too. Usually, hearts of palm, for me, are meh, but these I liked: crisp and fresh and filled with complementary richness to balance the slight bitterness.

I'm assuming the chocolate-covered shrimp are off the menu?

Hammond

David,

There is an interesting story about the shrimp from last night. The table next to us ordered them, and found the chocolate overpowering. When the chef approached to offer another dish the conversation went along the lines of:

Chef: So you didn't care for the chocolate shrimp
Guest: No, it didn't work for me, the chocolate was overpowering
Chef: (With a smirk on his face) To tell you the truth I don't like them either, but is one of our best sellers.

This was the first time I had ever heard a chef mention that he was serving something he didn't care for.

Flip

Flip wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

Flip wrote:Stuffed Hearts of palm - Hollowed out sections of hearts of palm filled with a goat cheese mousse, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a balsamic vinagrette with caper berries. The combinations of texture and flavor really surprised me. Flippy likes it!

I liked these delicate little palm innards, too. Usually, hearts of palm, for me, are meh, but these I liked: crisp and fresh and filled with complementary richness to balance the slight bitterness.

I'm assuming the chocolate-covered shrimp are off the menu?

Hammond

David,

There is an interesting story about the shrimp from last night. The table next to us ordered them, and found the chocolate overpowering. When the chef approached to offer another dish the conversation went along the lines of:

Chef: So you didn't care for the chocolate shrimp
Guest: No, it didn't work for me, the chocolate was overpowering
Chef: (With a smirk on his face) To tell you the truth I don't like them either, but is one of our best sellers.

This was the first time I had ever heard a chef mention that he was serving something he didn't care for.

Flip

What is distressing about that story is that the chef is selling something he knows is not very good, banking on the hope (well-founded) that people will order it as a novelty. Marketing trumps taste...again.

David Hammond wrote:

Flip wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

Flip wrote:Stuffed Hearts of palm - Hollowed out sections of hearts of palm filled with a goat cheese mousse, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a balsamic vinagrette with caper berries. The combinations of texture and flavor really surprised me. Flippy likes it!

I liked these delicate little palm innards, too. Usually, hearts of palm, for me, are meh, but these I liked: crisp and fresh and filled with complementary richness to balance the slight bitterness.

I'm assuming the chocolate-covered shrimp are off the menu?

Hammond

David,

There is an interesting story about the shrimp from last night. The table next to us ordered them, and found the chocolate overpowering. When the chef approached to offer another dish the conversation went along the lines of:

Chef: So you didn't care for the chocolate shrimp
Guest: No, it didn't work for me, the chocolate was overpowering
Chef: (With a smirk on his face) To tell you the truth I don't like them either, but is one of our best sellers.

This was the first time I had ever heard a chef mention that he was serving something he didn't care for.

Flip

What is distressing about that story is that the chef is selling something he knows is not very good, banking on the hope (well-founded) that people will order it as a novelty. Marketing trumps taste...again.

D,

I wasn't so much distressed at the comment, as amused. I don't want to say this is a perfect quote, but I thought I heard him mumble something about it is his partner's signature dish.

Flip

Actually, I thought that was almost always the case for the chocolate items on the menu - the chef finds them boring at best, lousy at worst, but has to put them on the menu because the customers demand them. Okay, that was usually not chocolate tapas.

Had to go, after reading this, and I was very impressed. The ambition of the place is surprising. They combine a number of creative, bold dishes with some well made standards. As in any place with this level of ambition at this price point, there are some misses, too. Perhaps over time they will execute more evenly though I hope the don't drop they continue to experiment, too.

Marinated artichokes - nothing special, as Flip noted.
Cream of Potato Soup - the Bride described this as soupy mashed potatoes. Rich, creamy, heavy and intense.
Cream of Asparagus Soup - a totally different preparation. Fairly light cream, with an intense, earthy flavor of Asparagus.
House cured salmon - large serving for a tapa with jumbo capers, roasted pepper aioli and nice little toasts. A simple, perfect composition with the salmon as the deserving center of attention.
Solomillo en tostada - actually little seared pieces of tenderloin, rubbed with salt and pepper, atop more little toasts, very crisp and rubbed with olive oil and a smear of blue cheese. Hard to choose a single favorite, but this was right up there.
Grilled Shrimp with Garlic - a tiny skillet with grilled shrimp served in a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with crisp chips of garlic. A definite step up from normal grilled shrimp and garlic, but I found the shrimp themselves a touch overcooked.
Wild Mushrooms with Garlic - Tiny button mushrooms, just cooked in a garlicky oil/sauce. this was not very exciting either.
Meatballs with mushrooms - good mushrooms, cooked to a brown shell on the outside and creamy meat inside (excellent technique, perfectly cooked) with some of the same tiny mushrooms in a bit of gravy. I am not a big meatball fan, but these were good.
Passionfruit ravioli - I never quite got the description on this because I was not listening to the beginning of the description (they were a special) and I neglected to ask later. Seemed like a gelatin egg filled with passion fruit, served in a soup spoon. Take the whole thing in your mouth and let it melt to reveal to flavors of the passion fruit. I confess, I did not eat it properly, so I really can't comment. They made a point that this is a special you can only get here or at El Bulli.
Marshmallow/Manchego Napoleon - Fresh marshmallows served between two rounds of fried manchego, drizzled with reduced honey/balsamic, and some light raspberry sauce. Enjoyable.
The son had some sort of chocolate pie for dessert - maybe a mousse pie, and it was a killer.

This Friday night they looked like they were going to turn all the tables at least once - maybe 10 in a small storefront in a strip mall between Four Eyes and Tiles Plus (or something like that). So perhaps they will make it. Have to wonder why this place, here at Rte 59 & Aurora. Probably got a good deal on the rent.

I will go back quite soon. They are open for lunch, so I will try that and report back, too. The food was interesting, with a few bold creations, and some creative touches in most of the dishes. There were dishes I will remember, some surprising in concept, others in execution like the soups. Nearby, at a good price, I could not ask for much more.

I know exactly where I'm going for dinner tonight!

Lilya wrote:I know exactly where I'm going for dinner tonight!

I give up...Where? (Just kidding)

I still haven't made it out to Macarena, but I'll have to admit that I find some of the menu items/flavor combinations a little odd and possibly even off-putting. My tastes aren't as exotic as many on this forum, and what others find creative my wife and I sometimes just find weird. Fortunately for me (us), it looks as though Macarena executes the tapas "basics" pretty well. FWIW, I've always found Meson Sabika to be pretty good, but it's good to know that there is another option in the area.

Come join us to try it again / for the first time / for yourself on next Tuesday, January 22!

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=17146