Windy and Wonderful!

Farmerie 58

I was recently in Chicago for a conference and what beautiful food I discovered. There are lots of restaurants in this city...at least as many as in Atlanta. I was delighted to walk around and explore the city and as I was looking for unique dining tonight, I stumbled upon Farmerie 58. This great little place is a recently transformed pan-Asian-sushi restaurant.

In a city with so many restaurants that the only possibility for survival is to truly stand out, the owners took chance and decided to go all in. The resulting concept is fantastic and capitalizes on one of the hottest concepts in the food industry right now...sustainability. The restaurant features a menu of wonderful fare including the freshest produce they can get from nearby farms. While Chicago is hardly farm country, it's surrounded by lush farming communities and has access to fresh seasonal produce, which is artfully used on the menu in dishes like the butternut squash volute, roasted sweet potato with parsnip risotto, creme fraiche, and grilled figs, and smoked trout with crab-apple salad, Swiss chard, and tomato jam. The wine list is coming along, but there weren't really any wows in that area.

The ambiance is comfortable and a cross between Asian and contemporary American bistro. There's an upstairs dining room and raw bar, plus a private bar area that's got real potential. Finally, the dessert menu is truly unique, again featuring local delights. What first caught my eye was the chocolate tart with chocolate-pepper creme fraiche, but even more intriguing was the cherry pain perdu made with Wisconsin Door County Cherries...yum! When you're in Chicago, skip the deep dish, but don't miss this delicious treat.