Restaurant Review: Frontier Chicago Whole Animal Service
In order to celebrate a few 30th birthdays the other week including TT#1 a big group of us went to Frontier with the mission of tackling their whole wild boar. I wasn’t quite sure what I was excepting from the whole experience but I was really looking forward to it! Our group was placed right by the front window of the restaurant and so the first thing you saw when you walked in was a team of chefs breaking down this whole wild boar. We were very much the center of attention, and I thought that placing us in front is a great way of getting the rest of the patron’s attention and promoting their whole animal services. Besides wild boar, Frontier also does full-grown pig, suckling pig, alligators, lambs, and goats. Although, pig is usually the most popular.
According to Chef Jupiter at Frontier, the wild boar is rubbed with brown sugar, garlic and other spices 24 hours before it’s cooked. They smoke the boars for six to eight hours using apple and cherry woods. If you’re wondering where the boars actually come from, they are wild caught right out of Texas.
One of the craziest things about the wild boar was how the chefs just tore right into the tenderloin and pulled it right off the bone, sliced it up, and passed it around. We also had the chance to try the shoulder, belly, ribs, and legs. I was not a huge fan of the belly or ribs as they were more the fatty part of the animal, and they don’t quite taste like a pig. Boar meat is darker, leaner, sweeter, and has a touch of game flavor.
I really enjoyed the tenderloin and the shoulder and I think this is because they tasted similar to a pig, although they were a little bit leaner which I liked about the boar. You could definitely taste the difference between the boar and normal pork tenderloin; one of our friends described the taste as a little “grassier.”
Overall, I really enjoyed the whole experience and thought it was a perfect meal/activity for a bunch of the guy's birthdays. It's definitely not for the faint of heart or vegetarians, but the sides that came along with the animal made it enjoyable for everyone in attendance. I had a chance to try Frontier's great succotash, mac 'n cheese, johnny-cakes, and all the bbq sauce you could want.
I’ve included some quick recipes below on how TT#1 and I enjoyed the leftovers. All the recipes are totally quick and easy and semi-homemade, and since the boar has already been cooked they are all perfect for weeknight meals!
Wild Boar Pizza
Ingredients:
1 prepared pizza crust
3 oz of wild boar shoulder and tenderloin
1 red pepper
½ large vidalia onion
½ cup your favorite pasta/pizza sauce
½ cup cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit
Chop up the wild boar and vegetables into bite sized pieces
Spread the pizza crust with pasta/pizza sauce
Sprinkle on the three different cheeses
Top with veggies and boar
Cook in oven for about 12 minutes
Wild Boar and Vegetable Stirfry
¼ cup Peanut Satay Sauce your favorite brand, I use XX
1 vidalia onion
1 red pepper
25 green beans
3 oz wild boar shoulder and tenderloin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Chop up the boar and vegetables into bite sized pieces and throw into a hot skillet with the olive oil
Sprinkle the veggies and boar with garlic powder
Cook on medium heat for about 12 minutes into the veggies are soft and boar is warmed through
Pour on about a ¼ cup of peanut satay sauce and cook for about another 3 minutes until the meat and veggies start to caramelize
