Found Kitchen and Social House, Evanston

Terrible name for doing any sort of search...

Date Night tonight to see Les Miz and dinner afterwards - we live in Skokie and went to Libertad (YAY!) a few weeks ago. We are thinking of trying "Found" - any reports?

Thanks!

Dan

Found Kitchen and Social House
1631 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, Illinois
(847) 868-8945
http://foundkitchen.com/

I've been a couple times and enjoyed it. They do not take reservations and it gets busy. The vibe turns from a neighborhood crowd to more of a college/younger scene later in the evening. Unlike some hot, new places in the city, you may have a shorter wait later than earlier. They seat diners in the front third of the restaurant which looks more like a lounge. These seats are couches and chairs with coffee tables rather than traditional chair/tables. Let the hostess know if that is not the type of dining you are looking for and they can seat you at a traditional seat or the chef's counter which overlooks their wood oven.

I liked the lamb meatballs and twice fried chicken wings. I didn't try any of the sandwiches or entree sized dishes. I'm not a huge flatbread fan, but our guests really liked them.

Their desserts are made in house by chef Pederson. They are simple, but well executed. I enjoyed the pot de creme.

I always loved c-house (Pederson's former kitchen) and feel that Found is in good hands with her at the helm.

Found Kitchen and Social House
1631 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, Illinois
(847) 868-8945
http://foundkitchen.com/

The menu on their website seems to consist almost entirely of lighter fare: 12 appetizers and salads, 2 cheeses/boards, 4 flatbreads, and 4 sandwiches, but only 3 entrees (also 3 desserts). Is that accurate, or do they also supplement it with a bunch of entrees that are daily/weekly specials, or is it more along the line of a "small plates" menu intended to mix and match as you please?

The first time I visited there were no specials. The last time I was there they had a couple specials. I believe they intend to offer more specials in the future when they've been open longer.

I'd say it is more of a small plates mix/match menu. Menus structured like that can make it tough to have a standard app/entree/dessert meal.

The sandwiches are definitely hearty enough to be satisfying entrees. The whole menu is really designed to be shared though. I've been a half dozen times already and have really enjoyed most everything I've tried. I've had almost everything on the menu at this point. They have plenty of vegetarian options (pearl barley with egg and mushrooms, quark flatbread, squash mushroom kale tofu pesto sandwich) that I found myself gravitating toward even though I'm by no means a vegetarian.

nsxtasy wrote:The menu on their website seems to consist almost entirely of lighter fare: 12 appetizers and salads, 2 cheeses/boards, 4 flatbreads, and 4 sandwiches, but only 3 entrees (also 3 desserts). Is that accurate, or do they also supplement it with a bunch of entrees that are daily/weekly specials, or is it more along the line of a "small plates" menu intended to mix and match as you please?

Last night they had a dry-aged rib-eye special. The portions and preparations don't really come across as "lighter fare" there's a stick-to-your ribs quality about them. We just ordered whatever looked appealing and told them to bring them out in whatever order they were ready. There were very few misses in our assortment of dishes (I think we had 9 dishes between the 4 of us). We were too full for dessert but the food tab was very, very reasonable, just over $100.

I went to Found with friends recently and can recommend the kale and swiss chard salad, the Brussels sprouts and squash with harissa, the fried oyster tacos, the grilled octopus with olives and sunchokes, and the lamb meat balls. The dishes come out when they're ready which was fine with us.

Just a quick note/data point. We went with friends last night and tried a number of items: kale and swiss chard salad; baby carrot and beet salad; chicken liver mousse; lamb meatballs; winter veggie flatbread; short rib flatbread; and the squash and mushroom sandwich with kale tofu pesto. Oh and the orange pound cake dessert. While most things were pleasant (all of us agreed that the squash/mushroom sandwich was the surprise favorite), nothing stood out for us.

The Lovely Dining Companion and I found really just the kale and swiss chard salad and, to a lesser extent, the short rib flatbread to be enjoyable (in addition to the sandwich just mentioned). All four of us agreed that the winter veggie flatbread was simply not good (notwithstanding the server's dynamite description). I found the chicken liver mousse much too liver-y though a companion was more of a fan. Bottom line, though, the Lovely Dining Companion and I--both eager to try it and looking forward to the evening--found it mostly a bust. We should note that the place is warm, cozy, and inviting (it was, surprisingly, not packed) and we had a top-notch server. Nothing was overtly bad, we just weren't impressed by much and I don't expect we'll be returning any time soon.

We had a mixed but overall positive experience here this weekend.

We started with several items from the "Plates" section . . .

Kale & Swiss Chard Salad with Seeds and Cranberries
A great salad with sturdy greens and a dressing that balanced out their slight bitterness. The seeds and cranberries were applied judiciously and provided nice accents of sweet, tart and crunchy throughout the salad.

Chicken Liver Mousse with Bacon Marmalade and Toast
Perfectly respectable, if not remarkable. Served in a small jar and topped with a thin layer of rendered fat, it was very creamy and mild in flavor. The marmalade had a stiff, grainy texture that was almost rillettes-like. I liked its flavor, which was really bacony and not too sweet, but the texture didn't thrill me.

Frites with Chile Ketchup and Aioli
Fine but nothing to write home about. I wish they'd been crispier but then again, if they had been I would have eaten more of them, so I guess it's ok that they weren't. These could have been served hotter, too.

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Harissa and Pumpkin Seeds
I really liked this dish, which featured some perfectly tender root veggies and cippolini onions. Their comforting starchiness was balanced beautifully by acidic, mildly-spicy bursts of harissa.

Fried Oyster Tacos with Bacon and Tomatillos
Tasty little 2-biters. There were 4 in the order. Overall, a very nice dish -- the oysters were plump -- but I thought the smokiness of the bacon was a bit overwhelming. I also would have liked a little more acid here to foil the oyster (I never really picked up the tomatillo) but overall I liked this quite a bit.

Grilled Baby Octopus with Arbequina Olives and Sunchokes
Probably my favorite dish of the meal. The octopus was cooked very nicely. It was charred and a bit crispy on the outside but tender and meaty within. I loved the accompanying elements, too. The olives were a great accent and the sauce/puree was nice. This was a great composition.

Lamb Meat Balls with Pistachio Chimichurri and Yogurt
Tasty enough but a little dry. Another problem here was that the accompanying chimichurri was thin and did not adhere to the meatballs at all, so we didn't really discover it until we had served (and eaten) all the meatballs, and then found it at the bottom of the bowl.

Twice Fried Chicken Wings with Smoked Chiles, Lemon and Honey
Perhaps it was a function of twice-frying but the moment I bit into one of these, the entire outer crust just fell off the chicken. In the end that didn't really matter because these were too sweet for me and also had a bitter element (think bitter orange rind) that I found unpleasant. Also the tips of the wings were cold, which didn't instill confidence. We left most of these uneaten.

From the "Flat Breads" section:

Bacon and Leek Flat Bread
Crispy-light flat bread, cooked in the wood-burning oven that was topped generously with pungent cheese (gruyere?). I thought the bread (more of a cracker) and the toppings were great. In spite of the bacon, which was applied pretty liberally, I felt like this could have used a tiny sprinkle of salt to focus the oiliness that rose out of the cheese while it was cooking. Still, it was pretty darned good.

From the "Knife and Fork Sandwiches" section:

Peameal Bacon Sandwich with 3 Year Cheddar, Celery Root, and a Fried Egg
A great sandwich. Personally, I would have loved a tiny bit of acidity here. The pickles served on the side didn't really deliver it and were not suitable for adding to the sandwich. The bread was tasty and a good fit texture-wise. It was soft enough to bite through without squeezing all the innards out but still hearty enough to provide some depth and substance. I thought this was well-conceived, well-made and delicious.

Fried Whitefish Sandwich with Parsnip Pickle Slaw
Nicely cooked fish that was crispy on the outside, and moist and flaky on the inside. It was served on a tender-toasty roll with a white sauce that wasn't quite tartar. I think it was yogurt-based and had some fresh herbs in it. Very nice.

We ordered a couple of cocktails and I have to say they were not made well. Both were completely separated, which was odd. I ordered the Found Punch, which changes daily. In this case it was a bourbon and lemon affair that needed a good stir but was still quite watery after that. My friend ordered Found's take on The Last Word, called "The Last Word on Found." This drink uses blackberry liqueur instead of maraschino. Again, the drink arrived at the table completely separated -- looking more like a Pousse Cafe than any sort of Last Word. It needed to be stirred but given that this is a shaken cocktail, that was especially odd. Once stirred, it stayed in solution so I have no idea why it didn't arrive at our table that way.

Service was extremely friendly, enthusiastic and efficient. I got the sense that the entire notion of farm-to-table was very new to a few of the FOH staffers, as they were struggling to provide salient information (not solicited by us) about the ingredients and their sources. Still, their enthuasiasm and efficiency made the experience quite enjoyable. Clean plates were offered and brought repeatedly. Waters were refilled as needed without us having to ask.

This meal really was more than the sum of its parts. Reading back over what I've written here, there are a lot of little nitpicks but my overall impression is very favorable. When the food has this much promise, it's hard to ignore the little issues that prevent it from ascending to an even higher level. The menu is a fun one, with lots of compelling choices. It's also a very comfortable space and I look forward to going back and checking it out again. Given that it's 4 blocks from Space, I think I'll be at Found at least a few times a year.

=R=

I also had a meal at Found this past weekend. Sorry to have missed you, ronniesuburban!

The room is fun-eclectic and has the warmth of a tavern with the style of a salon. A nice addition to a limited dining scene in Evanston. (Full disclosure: My old friends' daughter is on their front-of-house team.)

I enjoyed the lamb meatballs and our server mentioned that it was important to spoon the sauce up from the bottom of the dish. Someone besides Ron must have noticed this issue. I like roast veggies and the pumpkin seed garnish was fun, but overall, I found the dry spices to detract a bit. I would have enjoyed a typical harissa to dip the veggies into much more. Kale salad was good but a bit too sweet for me.

The oyster tacos were a hit for me- very pretty, perfectly crunchy fry and manageable size.

The leek and bacon flatbread was crisp and satisfyingly rich. We asked about the cheese. I was going to guess gruyere as well, but it turns out it was Parmagiana and Fontina.

Nice bottle of tempranillo. I won't comment on the service, since we were known to the server.

We went to Found on Valentine's Day, last Thursday. They were thankfully serving from their normal menu, no "special" jacked-up prices for the holiday (like some places we've encountered). We arrived early, no waits, but waits started forming around 5:15; the hostess said that the waits were comparable to a normal Friday or Saturday there.

We thought the food was consistently excellent; we liked all the dishes, no nitpicks here! The standout dish was their whole roasted fish, which that night was trout. The service was very friendly and helpful, without seeming in any way forced or artificial. The entire experience was welcoming and enjoyable. Found is a welcome addition to the vibrant, diverse dining scene in Evanston, and we look forward to returning often in the future.

One other thing worth mentioning. Above the bar is a dropped ceiling with quotes painted on the underside. One is from the owner's late father, Arnie Morton: "If you can afford to eat here, you can afford to wear whatever you want!"

A nice addition to a limited dining scene in Evanston.

Seriously?

sundevilpeg wrote:

A nice addition to a limited dining scene in Evanston.

Seriously?

I think it fills a niche where it doesn't have a lot of competitors. For example, if I'm visiting my parents, I need to find a place that does not require reservations since my parents can be a bit unreliable and has pretty good food even for the finicky. One day my father will love Korean food, the next he will claim that he hates it, I guess it's revenge for the time I was 4 and I decided on my birthday that I hated peas and if I ever saw them again I would gag until they were taken away.

Found has a good range of what I'd consider New American standards like pates, frites, flatbreads, etc. I don't know if I'd travel to go to it if I didn't have relatives in the area, but I'm glad it is there, even though the first time I went the hours posted on their website were wrong and it caused a minor crisis.

sundevilpeg wrote:

A nice addition to a limited dining scene in Evanston.

Seriously?

You misquoted me, sundevilpeg. I used no italics. A small thing, perhaps, but you ought to have included "emphasis added" in your comment if your intention was simply to highlight the phrase you took issue with.

Using italics in my original comment would have added undue emphasis that I did not intend, which would have suggested that my intention was to insult Evanston. I didn't intend that. Evanston, though my beloved home for 20 years, and home to some of my favorite restaurants, has a limited dining scene when compared to the city. Fact, nothing more.

More to the point, I enjoyed my meal at Found and would happily return there. Let's get the thread back on track.

Finally made it to Found last night ... or should I say yesterday afternoon. We arrived right about opening time - around 4:30 pm, to make sure we could get a seat. By 6:30, the place was so crowded we almost felt guilty for not giving up our table, with so many others waiting, but we were still nursing our drinks. We weren't rushed in any way, but the hordes did seem appreciative when we got up at 7.

We had three small plates — a rich, smoky chicken liver mousse, a special flatbread with thinly sliced red jalapeños, and a Chef's Board, including a double cream cheese, a quark-apple creation, marmalade, and a few other things I can't remember now. All were interesting and tasty, although the meal was a bit bread-heavy (by our own choice).

The only complaint - the sparklers were served in coupe glasses (which were also used for some of the cocktails). No flutes. Not the best presentation of a sparkling wine.

The Evanston Lunch Group had a very pleasant lunch at Found Kitchen. Thanks to nsxtasy, who did a great job arranging our visit. We had a nice table for 8 in the back next to a wall of bookshelves, and the staff provided many dishes as an introduction to their “all-day dining menu.” This was my first meal at Found, so I cannot compare these dishes to what is served at dinner, but I believe there is a fair amount of overlap.

We sampled 3 flatbreads, a spring vegetable one with thinly shaved beets, another with bacon and leek, and one with arugula and parmesan. My favorite was the arugula and parm, but then I always love arugula. It was light and crispy, an excellent starter. Cabbagehead enjoyed the bacon and leek, but I found it a touch oily and heavy for the very thin and crisp crust. We had two salads, one a simply dressed leaf lettuce salad, the other kale and perhaps mixed greens (I think, others may correct me) with strawberry bits. Both were quite good.

We also tried 3 sandwiches with varying degrees of success in dividing them among 8 people: the roasted mushroom sandwich, the peameal bacon with roast pork, and the smoked salmon tartine. I enjoyed the tastes I got of all three, but I didn’t really eat any as a true sandwich, so it’s hard to judge them as they were planned for eating. The house-smoked salmon was excellent.

Probably my favorite dish was polenta with merguez sausage and a lovely poached egg with some sort of bitter greens (it’s not on the online menu). I enjoy the ELG outings, but this dish I wanted to have all to myself.

We also sampled a few sweets—Found’s scones, which were quite sweet and crumbly, like biscuits—and a waffle with vanilla cream and a bit of fruit. The scone wasn’t my thing, but the waffle was deliciously light and crispy, unlike the doughy, soft ones we had a few months ago at Evanston’s Home of Chicken and Waffles.

I can see why Found is popular. There is nothing like it in Evanston. The atmosphere is relaxed (at least during the day). Too bad the view out the front window is Whole Foods’ parking lot ramp. The kitchen aims high, and some of the food definitely hits the mark. I’d like to see what the place is like at dinner, but I don't know that I would be willing to stick out a long wait for a table.

Not wanting to deal with construction-constrained I-94 traffic into the city last night, Mrs EdB60035 and I decided to try Found. We were initially told a 25 minute wait, so pulled up the bar to order a couple of cocktails (not the $15 "babbling brook", which seems out of the zone for the suburbs). Before they were even made, we were told a table was ready for us. And on we went...

The dining room is nice, romantic, modern. I liked the array of seating types and layouts. Noise level was energetic.

We ordered several things to share: the "chef's board" (of cheese and charcuterie), the baby lettuces salad, summer squashes roasted in harissa, lamb meatballs, and the Slagel Farms steak. Unfortunately, I can't rave about any of them.

The chef's board came with one small portion of cheese, some slices of house-made coppa, a terrine of beet salad with boursin cheese, and a lot of crusty bread. It almost looked like a bread service with the amount of bread. Not really sure on value-for-money there ($15).

The baby lettuce salad was over-drenched in dressing, with strong notes of star anise and other herbs. I suppose we could have sent it back but I soldiered through it.

The lamb meatballs arrived next, with obvious crunchy breadcrumb bits throwing the inside texture off and an aggressive meaty flavor even for lamb.

The summer squashes was a nice enough dish, the harissa not very spicy but fine.

Last the steak arrived, ordered medium rare but clearly rare (same at the next table). It's cut into rough pieces, almost like a skirt steak, which might be for visual effect but for us did not help the dish. It was tasty enough, I just had some leftovers for lunch and they remained moist and flavorful.

The service was indifferent - we were never told about a seasonal flatbread, given information on the chef's board after we had ordered it but before it had arrived, and I was only belatedly asked if I wanted a refill on my cocktail.

For dessert we headed two blocks away to Stained Glass for port/scotch and a beautiful cheese plate with four different selections.

The yelp reviews on this place (yes yelp) seem to have two ends of the spectrum - people who love it, and people who, like us, get what the restaurant is trying to be but find it totally disappointing on delivery. I'm sure solely based on location and atmosphere they will do well for a while.

edb60035 wrote:We were initially told a 25 minute wait, so pulled up the bar to order a couple of cocktails (not the $15 "babbling brook", which seems out of the zone for the suburbs). Before they were even made, we were told a table was ready for us.

edb60035 wrote:I'm sure solely based on location and atmosphere they will do well for a while.

The main reason I've not returned to Found Kitchen since my first visit (which I, apparently, liked a bit more than you liked yours) is that I tend to avoid places that don't take reservations (even though it is good to know that your wait, on a weekend, was so brief). Since Evanston is such an isolated, out-of-the-way island for me, I generally don't go there just to eat -- or unless I have something else going on. But when an event with a firm start-time (like a concert at Space, for example) brings me to Evanston, I avoid Found Kitchen because I try to limit the pre-event time variability as possible. As much as I initially anticipated hitting this place before events at Space, the reality is that it doesn't really work for me. Without being able to lock in a start-time, this isn't a viable choice for a pre-event meal. I do whatever I can to avoid circumstances that can lead to annoying time crunches that are beyond my control. I don't want to have to hurry at the end of of meal or wait for a course, or my check (fwiw, my Evanston, pre-concert/show routine has evolved into drinks/snacks at Ward Eight followed by a quick bite at Wiener & Still Champion).

As you imply, none of this is probably going to hurt Found Kitchen's business very much. My guess is that folks from Evanston, Wilmette and Rogers Park -- who desire nothing more than a pleasant meal -- will keep this place pretty busy for a while since it's one of the better options in the area. There are a ton of places in Evanston but overall, the bar's pretty low.

=R=

From today's edition of Chicago Magazine's Dish, some very good news:

Getting a table at Found (1631 Chicago Ave., Evanston, 847-868-8945) no longer involves planning for a wait. As of now, number 3 on last year’s Best New Restaurants list is taking reservations for dinner all night long when you call them in advance.

We had an early post-matinee dinner at Found on Sunday.
The crowds have died down: when we arrived just after 5PM there were only a couple tables occupied; by the time we left around 6:30 the front kitschy half of the space was pretty full, but definitely lots of capacity.

We were going for a light meal, so we didn't order much. Surprisingly for a "small plates" place, their smaller plates are pretty robust (a good thing with each item below being in the $12-15 range):

The chicken wings are big, meaty, 5 to a plate (drum, fling and wingtip unsevered), providing lots of crunch and meat. It definitely has heritage to the Korean-style wings, but the flavorings of the sweet and spicy sauce aren''t quite so Asian. Absolutely delicious.

Fried polenta with sheep's milk cheese, plums, cherry tomatoes and balsamic was also terrific. I'd have liked a little more cheese, but otherwise the balance of sweet, tangy and salty were spot on.

The bacon-leek flatbread was wonderfully thin, rich with the listed ingredients and cheese, but seemed to be missing a little something: perhaps a bit more crisp on the bread, perhaps a bit more pepper or a drizzle of vinegar or citrus? Just a bit of pop would have put this over the top.

I had a very nice cocktail called "Clockwork Orange" with rye, rooibos syrup and orange bitters -- nicely balanced, very orange-forward. SueF had a Portuguese red which was very dry but light (a seeming contradiction but it worked). All together with tip over $70 for a 'light meal' but it was very high quality, very filling stuff.

The only criticism is divisibility: It was a party of two, and each dish had an odd number of items (wings, polenta sticks, slices of flatbread). I'm surprised there haven't been fights. Also, while service was friendly and attentive, I found their standards for servers a little low: the one guy with a 3-day shadow, (clean) t-shirt and shorts didn't look so much like a server as just an ex-NU student wandering in off the street.

If I compare this to our local fine-dine small plates place, e+o in Mount Prospect, Found comes out favorably: Although the menu is slimmer and a touch pricier, the food is better balanced (especially in the sweet department: the chefs in e+o must really have a sweet tooth), and service was outstanding.

JoelF wrote:I found their standards for servers a little low: the one guy with a 3-day shadow, (clean) t-shirt and shorts didn't look so much like a server as just an ex-NU student wandering in off the street.

Found's website wrote:Found’s social mission, to “hire and train people coming out of homelessness” as a stepping stone to living more independent lives is fundamental to our philosophy.

You plate in odd numbers because it's more attractive to the eye. Ask the Greeks and Romans (it's their fault, look @ the columns). Sorry it doesn't work for share plates. They must have not given a shit.

nr706 wrote:

JoelF wrote:I found their standards for servers a little low: the one guy with a 3-day shadow, (clean) t-shirt and shorts didn't look so much like a server as just an ex-NU student wandering in off the street.

Found's website wrote:Found’s social mission, to “hire and train people coming out of homelessness” as a stepping stone to living more independent lives is fundamental to our philosophy.

I had not seen that.

Perhaps one more stone as part of training/prep.

Back four years later... their menu appears to be a little dumbed down -- the meat/fish section now includes a burger and a french dip (although the latter was delicious). Even with 4 years inflation, prices seem high, especially for the serving sizes: the halloumi dish with sweet/sour beets was two, square-inch slices of browned cheese and maybe ten or so quarter-circle pieces of beet, for $12. Similarly, for $6, I'd expect a little more out of a bowl of olives than two varieties just plunked there.

Continuing on my gripe from 2014 about sharing: if you're going to serve a french dip sandwich as a "sharing plate" don't you think perhaps it should be cut into at least 2 pieces? They did give us a sharp knife on request.

In addition to the above, we had the bread service and a lamb flatbread (braised lamb, mint, raisins and feta) which was outstanding. A glass of wine and their drink special for the night, Second Chakra: Bourbon, roiboos syrup, orange bitters. Very tasty.

Food very good, service very good... just not sure the value is there.

Chef Debbie Gold rejoins restaurateur Amy Morton after 27 years, this time at Found Kitchen in Evanston

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html