Now I watch Top Chef, I go to Chicago but I’ve never been to Frontera Grill by the pretty well known Rick Bayless. So when I heard this mexican food guru was coming to LA behind Red-O I thought I would kind of be a poser and make a reservation to go. Our friends Jason and Allana came with.
When I first walked in I said to myself WOW. Amazing decor, ceilings opening to the sky, indoor outdoor flow, 2 bars, it was packed and there was so much going on. No wonder Dodd Mitchell had his hand print on this place. It was a lot to take in. 
We had cozy booth in the back where I couldn’t even look at the menu right away because I was staring at all the people, looking at the decor (black glass roses at the bar, chair swings at the bar, cow bells above me, crazy net/sculpture separating another room and a glass “tequila tunnel” leading to the tequila lounge) and trying to figure out what drink to order: a margarita or the RedO Sunrise. I went with the latter. Delicious. I had 2.
Now to for food…I didn’t know where to begin. From the Goat Cheese Tamales, to Duck Tacuquitos (see photo below) 
to the $9 quac (just ok), the best appetizer by far was the Sweet Plantain Sopes.
For an entree we had the Blue Shrimp with plantain rice, David had the Chicken Enchilada (yummy), Allana had the Seabass and her hubby Jason had the Gleason Ranch Pork Shoulder.
We were so full from conversation and dinner we couldn’t even attempt dessert, and Sweet Lady Jane’s was ruled out as well. Allana had to keep reminding me that the “O” for RedO made her think of Overstock.com Now how will I get that out of my head?
On our way out the not so savvy valet asked us if we had seen Salma Hayek walk in, who was all freaked out about the paparazzi. I think it’s valet 101 not to spill the beans on this stuff, right? But of course, it made my night (and made David not want to go back). 🙂
Meaningful Nonsense 
I ate there. The Valet guys WERE terrible. The food is pretty delicious but it’s a little too Hollyweird in there and I didn’t find myself itching to go back, really. Another foofy place for all of the foofy people.
Funny. Looks good and rich.
Going in 2 weeks- can’t wait!!
Lauren,
It looks like you really enjoyed your time at Red-O! The Duck Taquitos look delicious, Rick Bayless definitely knows a thing or two about Mexican food.
If you’re interested, he’ll be talking with Charlie Rose tonight on Bloomberg Television about his experience cooking Mexican cuisine for the President of Mexico and President Obama at the White House. There’s a clip of tonight’s episode, including the Rick Bayless segment, posted on Facebook at: http://www.Facebook.com/BloombergTelevision
Enjoy,
Meghan