Sustainable Dining at Brown Trout

This weekend my mother came to visit me on one of the coldest weekends in Chicago this winter. As the temperature dropped to a biting zero degrees, the thought of outdoor sightseeing chilled us to our bones. We instead chose to focus her trip on a culinary tour of Chicago. We began our gustatory weekend with Thursday night dinner at Brown Trout. The restaurant is the brainchild of Chef Sean Sanders who decided to create this restaurant while honeymooning with his wife in New Zealand. Hoping to emulate the sustainable lifestyle of New Zealanders in the U.S., Chef Sanders uses sustainable foods with seafood from natural waters, meat from sustainable farms and vegetables and herbs from their own garden. 

Located in the North Center area of Chicago, the restaurant has a natural décor of chestnut colors with a long communal table in the center, creating a warm ambiance. Wanting a filling meal to warm us from the cold, we chose to get two main courses. My mother ordered the seared tuna which was accompanied by grilled lettuce and cauliflower. As my mom loved the dish so much, I only snagged a small bit. From the small bite simplicty I did get of the dish, the fresh flavor of the tuna was apparent.  My trout was equally delicious in its fresh. The trout itself was glazed in a carrot ginger sauce that only served to enhance the flavor. The plate was decorated with grilled brussel sprouts and an assortment of chestnuts and mushrooms, which unexpectedly served as the perfect compliment. We were so satisfied by the meal, we made a decision we rarely make. We decided to forego the dessert, wanting to preserve the clean taste left by the meal. The moderately priced Brown Trout impresses with its simplicity and freshness.

Brown Trout: 4111 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL
(773) 472-4111
http://www.browntroutchicago.com/Default.html
Sunday: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Wed.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m.-11 p.m.

Karyn's Raw Café: Vegan Chicago Pizza

The wintertime in Chicago drives the heartiest of souls into the depths of their comforters, ordering take-out from any and every restaurant that offers free delivery. My friend and I fought this common inclination to trek from Evanston to downtown Chicago to try Karyn’s Cooked, a vegan restaurant, started by Karyn Calabrese, a proponent of holistic health. Starving from our brief trek through the cold and sleet and our stint huddling with strangers under the heat lamps waiting for the ever delayed El trains, the cozy café with warm lights was a welcome destination. Passing by the pastry case filled with notoriously good vegan goodies on the way to our table, we resolved to save room for the desserts. We began the meal with the Ron’s Salad, a disappointingly conventional mixture of garden greens. While the salad was complimented by a tasty dressing, it was not enough to salvage the lack of originality of the rest of the salad. For our main meal we split the Jerry’s Pizza. The whole-wheat crust was topped with an subtly sweet but natural tasting tomato sauce topped with bits of vegan cheese, wild mushrooms, olives, broccoli, fresh garlic and basil. The crunchiness of the whole-wheat wrap in addition to the plentiful helping of vegetables created a wholesome and satisfying meal. This vegan concoction may not have been a typical slice of pizza, but it may just have topped my list for best Chicago pizza. After devouring my half of the pizza and feeling more than pleasantly full, we still decided to stick to our pact to split two desserts.

Upon asking our waiter the best option, he guaranteed we would love the carob cake or it would be on him. Although neither of us had ever tried carob cake before, we decided to go along with the waiter’s ringing endorsement and ordered the German Chocolate Carob Cake along with the Carrot Cake. We later found out that carob is a legume from carob trees, flush with vitamins, protein and fiber. Additionally it has three times the amount of calcium as chocolate, one third less calories, seventeen times less fat and none of the caffeine (I definitely hope to use this in desserts at home!). Our table was soon decorated with a massive slice of chocolate cake topped with chocolate icing and coconut shavings in addition to the more understated carrot cake topped with a generous supply of icing. As we took the knife to cut each of the slices in half to ensure that we got equal amounts of the baked goodness, the dryness of the cake was apparent.  Although the icing did not disappoint the cake itself was stale in both the carob and carrot cakes.

Overall, the meal was delicious, despite the disappointment of  the dessert. The waiter stuck to his promise to pay for the carob cake, eliciting our promise to return and give the desserts another try. Although in no hurry to try the carob cake again, we had no problem committing to returning to the restaurant to try the other items on the menu.

Karyn's Raw Café: 1901 North Halstead, Chicago, IL 60614
(312) 225-1590
http://www.karynraw.com/Raw-Cafe
Sun. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.