I eat, therefore Yo Soy

It all started with a carrot soup in the autumn of 2004.  Or more accurately, a carrot star anise soup—sweet, sunny, and tasty—that, as if out of a chapter from a Laura Esquivel novel, helped transform a friendship into a romance, and a romance into a culinary venture.

If you missed out on last week’s Mexican Independence Day festivities, you get a second chance this Sunday, as Yo Soy, an underground supper club specializing in Mexican-Chinese fusion, hosts their monthly event in tribute to la patria. Calling it “The Longest Grito,” Yo Soy founders Mikey Corona and Brian Riggenbach are hosting their special Independence Day dinner a little late, on September 25th.

Restaurantes de puertas cerradas (as they’re called in Latin America) and underground supper clubs are not a novel concept. World cities, like Buenos Aires, have been hosting secret dinners for decades. But in a city with a history like Chicago’s, where speakeasies were once as popular as corner stores, it’s not surprising that diners still enjoy the intrigue of eating in a stranger’s home, or in this case, Corona and Riggenbach’s home.

Yo Soy has been hosting monthly, space-limited dinner parties out of Lakeview for more than two years. However, unlike some underground supper clubs who feed off exclusivity, mystery and allusiveness, the duo seems to thrive more on their love of food (their Sunday menus have featured items like seared scallops with sweet and sour plantains, and corn and the cob chilled soup with pickled ginger and shiitake mushrooms); of hosting (both have extensive experience in the service industry); and of a need to create a sense of intimacy amongst their guests.

“Yo Soy brings together everything that I believe should be part of culinary experience,” said 32-year-old Yo Soy patron Micaela Diaz-Sanchez. “Good company and music framed by intricately and creatively crafted (not to mention DELICIOUS) food. Mikey and Brian have begun such a fiercely sophisticated gathering but with such profound warmth.”

Combine all ingredients, pour over steak and rub into meat to ensure proper distribution of marinade. refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours.