Organic, child-friendly food downtown?

Sister's family in town from the bay area -- she's a pretty strict organic food type person. (She used to carry her own 1/2 gallon carton of milk with her when my nephew was younger... That was sort of embarrassing)

I know many upscale restaurants have an organic/hormone-free chicken or beef selection (they only eat Neiman Ranch, or something like that) but their rambunctious 7 yr old son is with them so the restaurants need to be fairly child-friendly. She's going to ask the concierge at the Fairmount for rec's but we all know that even the best concierge doesn't have the knowledge base of lth -- unless one of you has a day job as a concierge...

Any rec's would be greatly appreciated -- I love processeed food and dementia-inducing beef so organic food options are completely off my radar -- I'm at a loss as to what to tell them.

I think Hannah's Bretzel uses all organic ingredients, so that would be a possiblity for lunch.

Frontera uses a lot of organic stuff, but is perhaps not totally organic. Your sister could try for one of the same-day reservations (call at 8:30 am), or go for Saturday brunch. (Or maybe hit Frontera Fresca on the 7th floor of Macys?)

Karyn's Cooked at 738 N Wells is vegetarian and organic

second to hannah's bretzal. the place has fantastic sandwiches. (there are two locations, one at washington/wells and a new one in the illinois center at 233 n michigan). so so soup. i love love "sergio's special" sandwich.

...and believe it or not Chipotle is borderline organic. they use organic ingredients "whenever possible" ... the produce is... their pork and beef are organic, pork being Nieman's Ranch that you mention. and as far as being kid friendly, they will make anything you ask them to, in any combination on anything you want..

if she's staying at the fairmont, both are within 2 blocks. though i doubt hannah's is open on the weekend, maybe they are on saturday for lunch though.

How about the cafes at Fox & Obel in Streeterville or the Whole Foods on Huron? A little further afield, but maybe worth the trip, would be the Bleeding Heart Bakery. or Lula Cafe

And I don't know about the new Hannah's Bretzel in the pedway (which she could probably reach from the Fairmont without even going outside), but the one on Washington is allegedly open 10-3 on Saturday.

I will tell you, however, that when my own Northern-California strictly-organic vegetarian sister comes to town, I really just stock up at Trader Joe's and Whole foods and either feed her at home or let her make her own sandwiches. Chicago's just not a good eating-out town for the strictly-organic crowd.

Finally, though I'd take it with a grain of (organic) salt,

Centerstage has a list of "organic/farm raised" options.

Good luck. If you find any winners, please do report back.

Thanks so much everyone -- these lunch/breakfast places look pretty perfect. I told her to check out Fox & Obel for breakfast since they generally use high quality ingredients. She found a reference to Lakeside Cafe (?) for lunch that she's interested in checking out later in the week, also a juice/snack bar upstairs at some place called Kramer's Health Food at 228 S Wabash. Hannah's looks perfect, Karyn's looks good for her but her husband (and myself) get a little cranky without meat.

For dinner -- the Custom House on Dearborn is one possibility we've dug up but it looks a bit up-scale and I'm reluctant to bring the kid there? Custom House isn't strictly organic but looks like there are enough items on the menu for her to choose from. http://www.customhouse.cc/

Dinner looks like the challenge -- I'll report in on what they manage to do since they're staying a week. We'll look into Frontera, as well.

And yes, when they stay with me, we usually drive straight to Trader Joes from the airport for their snacks, drinks, cereal, etc. although she said the Fairmont Hotel offered an organic breakfast option -- 56 bucks for a small breakfast for 2 adults and a kid.

trotsky wrote: although she said the Fairmont Hotel offered an organic breakfast option -- 56 bucks for a small breakfast for 2 adults and a kid.

Yikes. Hotel breakfast prices are so ridiculous. Maybe they should ask for a fridge in the room and stock up with Trader Joe yogurt, granola, etc. ?

I had another thought for a dinner option -- maybe Timo? I don't know how much of the ingredients are organic, but the chef, John Bubala, is active in Slow Food, *and* also very supportive of family dining. He hosted the first Purple Asparagus event, about a year and half ago. (We still have our goldfish from that day...)

PS: do they know about Intelligentsia coffee? There's one fairly near them, I think, on Randolph.

Kramer's is close to them, but it's a snack bar at best IMHO. Not the cleanest looking place either.

I'm going to look into Frontera and Timo for tonight -- thanks again.

My sister's standards about "strictly organic" have dropped considerably since their arrival last week. So far, she's loved Cafe Iberico for dinner. And she was totally impressed by Hanna's Bretzel -- loved it for breakfast and lunch.

I'm trying to choose between Erwin and Bistro Campagne tonight -- leaning towards Campagne for the garden seating -- are children O.K. here?

I go to Bistro Campagne at least once per month and see children there every time so I would say yes.