Green Zebra - The bounties of spring (pictures)

I had a fantastic meal at Green Zebra earlier this week, which really highlighted the bounties of spring. The array of produce served, much of it local and seasonal, was crafted into distinctive, delectable and imaginative dishes that made the absence of meat a mere afterthought. This satisfying, delicious fare is levels above most other 'vegetarian-friendly' restaurants in town. Chef Christine Kim proves without question that vegetable-based cuisine needn't be a consolation prize for those who wish to avoid meat. Not only are many of her dishes immensely cravable, but her plates are simply stunning . . .


Fresh Buratta Cheese, meyer lemon gelee, grilled onion relish



Roasted Beet Panna Cotta, pecans, rhubarb and puff pastry


golden beets and rhubarb


beet panna cotta and puff pastry



Shaved Artichoke Salad, parmesan, preserved lemons & red pepper foam



Avalanche Farms Grilled Asparagus, hazelnut apple puree, wildcrafted watercress



Crisp Chickpea Pancake, pinenuts, basil and marinated black radish



Blue Cheese Beignets, whole roasted pear, bearnaise, port wine



Slow Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms, in crispy potato with savoy cabbage



Stinging Nettles Agnolotti, snap peas, fiddlehead ferns, mascarpone



Spiced Eggplant Dumplings, baby carrots, coconut, lemongrass



Turnip Risotto Cake, foraged mushrooms, spinach puree, baby turnips



Prospera Farms Chicken Egg, smoked potato puree, parsley and country sourdough



Parmesan Gnocchi, ramps, english peas, morel mushrooms



Roasted Sablefish, fingerling potatoes, fennel, favas, asparagus



Toasted Almond Tart, vanilla poached apricots, cafe dolce ice cream



Chocolate Banana "Pave," butter rum, banana fritters



Chocolate Coconut Cake, coconut foam, dark chocolate sorbet, passion fruit


Everything we tasted was excellent. I am not a huge fan of shiitake mushrooms and, as such, liked that dish the least. But still, it had qualities which made it appealing. I really loved the angolotti with the stinging nettle filling, the flavorful chickpea cake, the tender asparagus, the pungent beignets, the sweet/savory beet panna cotta, and the signature chicken egg, which in spite of the refinement its undergone over the years, was every bit as delicious as the first time I had it.

I happened to be with a few folks who were very skeptical about eating at Green Zebra. Having never eaten there before, they kept on bringing up the possibility of stopping at La Pasadita after our meal, for a round of steak burritos. However, as the plates kept coming to the table, the burrito talk faded away -- and rightfully so. We were not only full but satisfied as well. There's nowhere else in town where these types of dishes can be had and they almost certainly cannot be (easily) replicated at home. For those reasons, Green Zebra remains one of the most distinctive -- and important -- restaurants in Chicago.

=R=

Green Zebra
1460 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
312 243-7100


and just in case . . .
La Pasadita
1132 N Ashland Ave
1140 N Ashland Ave
&
1142 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773 227-2203
773 278-0384

I've dined at Green Zebra a handful of times and always enjoyed excellent meals. This past week, however, was the first time I had dined there this year. The best way I can describe my most recent meal was hit and miss, with some real highs and some disappointing lows. Overall, I'd say I had a good meal but that it did not come close to reaching the outstanding level that it has in the past.

Let's start with highs:

I really enjoyed the textures and flavors of the Salad Trio: shaved artichoke w/ arugula, fennel w/ orange and fried artichoke w/ pistou -- slightly heavy on the orange, but only slightly.

Sweet Onion Soup was outstanding. Great flavor, particularly the subtle sweetness from the onions, and creamy without any obvious addition of cream, and paired with a long herbed cracker for a great salty-sweet, crispy-creamy, combination.

Truffle Risotto w/ foraged mushrooms and cipollini (spelled cippolini on their menu) onions was outstanding. The risotto was cooked perfectly -- creamy but with some bite, and the mushrooms set atop the risotto delicious. This was one of the very best risottos I have ever had.

Warm Carrot Cake with baby bok choy, white bean puree and almond was also outstanding. The cake was so moist, and only slightly sweetened, but what little sweetness I found in the cake paired so well with the bok choy, beans and almonds.

For dessert, the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mousse w/ concord grape jelly and peanut biscotti was delicious, with the star of the dish being the amazingly light peanut butter mousse, topped with the thinnest chocolate shell coating. There was one item on the dish that seemed like a thin concord grape-chocolate custard that did not work well at all, but I've overlooked that portion of the dish in favor of the mousse.

Also very good was the Bourbon Bread Pudding w/ pumpkin and creme fraiche ice cream.

So many highs; unfortunately some real lows:

Sweet Potato Tart w/ bourbon maple syrup, blue cheese and roasted crabapple was dominated by the blue cheese. Now I love blue cheese, but in this dish it sat atop the entire tart and prevented me from tasting anything else.

Chickpea Pancakes w/ fried chickpeas, basil and piperade suffered terribly from the bone-dry pancakes. All other aspects of the dish were very flavorful, but the pancakes were the focal point and failed.

Roasted Baby Beets w/ watercress and horseradish panna cotta was ruined by a panna cotta which separated and horseradish that sank to the bottom of the custard. Thus, until you reached the bottom of the panna cotta, you did not even know that there was any horseradish. The dish also lacked salt which was needed to bring together the classic flavor combination of beets and horseradish.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash w/ crispy chestnuts and savory yogurt suffered due to the minimal use of chestnuts.

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Cake with dark chocolate sorbet and passion fruit suffered from a very dry chocolate cake portion.

Finally, I was irritated by the overuse of foam. I don't mind foam, but is it needed in nearly every dish? It's as if the chef just received a new toy and went crazy with it. Slow down!

I still believe that Spring is one of the more interesting and creative choices among Chicago restaurants, particularly due to the imaginative use of vegetables, but the number of failures during this meal really concerned me. I really hope that this was just a lukewarm evening for Green Zebra because in my opinion, there is nothing quite like it in Chicago and they've never disappointed me before.

Nice post ronnie - thanks for sharing the food porn.

Did you guys do the $55 tasting menu or order a la carte? I guess since the number of dishes you profiled isn't a multiple of 5 - a la carte?

The parents are coming into town in Nov - maybe we'll order 1 of everything on the menu.

Did you guys do the wine / non-alcoholic beverage pairings?

Jay K wrote:Nice post ronnie - thanks for sharing the food porn.

Did you guys do the $55 tasting menu or order a la carte? I guess since the number of dishes you profiled isn't a multiple of 5 - a la carte?

The parents are coming into town in Nov - maybe we'll order 1 of everything on the menu.

Did you guys do the wine / non-alcoholic beverage pairings?

We just went 'a la carte' across the board. I happened to be with some friends, whose general ordering philosophy is "one of each, please."

As for wine, we opted for a bottle (or was it 2?). I wasn't even aware that pairings were offered but I'll definitely keep it in mind for next time.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:As for wine, we opted for a bottle (or was it 2?). I wasn't even aware that pairings were offered but I'll definitely keep it in mind for next time.

=R=

The tasting menu is $55/person, and they'll match wines to that menu for $35/person. Interestingly, they also do a non-alcoholic beverage matching for $20/person.

Golly. There are several Green Zebra threads and all of them seem to have gone dormant since some time in 2007. I'm taking the Lovely Dining Companion out to dinner on Saturday and this was a place she loved on our first visit (probably back around 2006 or so). We're simply been too busy checking out every place else in town and thus haven't made it back since. So, my question is simple: any recent reports? Still worth a little trek? Thanks.

I went last summer, and wish I had posted then, because I can't remember details now. I do remember that we decided it wasn't good enough to return unless someone else pays.

Kennyz wrote:I went last summer, and wish I had posted then, because I can't remember details now. I do remember that we decided it wasn't good enough to return unless someone else pays.

I heard the same thing from a good friend about a Green Zebra meal he had in the last year. I didn't get any details though.

I went this fall with two out-of-town vegetarian friends. Between us we shared 9 plates - and everything was very tasty and creative (wish I could remember details). But it didn't surpass other experiences, and I tend to eat more non-veggie things too, so I haven't rushed back, but would certainly with veggie friends.

I went last December for a friend's birthday - and we had a good time, even though there were some service-related issues.
The food was excellent, and the FOH did try to fix, or make up for the service issues. They also get kudos for finding a lovely non-alcholic beverage to serve me (I was pregnant at the time), when they brought out free wine (Cranberry Shrub for me) for the table to make up for the issue.
Back to the food: We really enjoyed it. Even the meat-lovers among our group had no complaints about the food, or the choices. We ate across the menu and all had one dish or so each that really impressed us.

Now - is it the first place I would choose to go - probably not. But it is the first place I'd suggest when trying to find a special-occasion restaurant for a vegetarian (which I'm not).

$20 for $40 Groupon deal - http://www.groupon.com/chicago/

I used the Aforementioned Groupon on a weekday jaunt to Green Zebra. Even though I showed up without a reservation, expecting it not to be too crowded on a weekday; I had to wait! :-) It really is a small space and there is no Bar area to speak of.

I have been to GZ before and the food was as tasty as I remember. I had a egg-salad on a Brioche tiny appetizer. Tasty. But I would rather pay a couple of bucks extra to get a more substantial portion. Same with the soup. It was a sweet-potato Thai influenced soup. Outstanding flavor combination. They either pureed the Lemongrass along with the Sweet Potato, or used a Lemongrass infused broth. Whatever it was, it was really tasty. As they do not really have an entree section, I had the Rye Spaetzle with Smoked Sauerkraut. The Spaetzle was really enhanced by the smoky cabbage. I don't really know how they did this. It was a wedge of cabbage, grilled/roasted and smoked. It imparted all the smoky flavor to the spaetzle. This along with 2 Dogfish Head 60 Min. IPA and a glass of an Australian Sauvignon Blanc, set me back 60 bucks. The only problem is I had to eat a plate of Rice+sambar after I returned home!

Really good, tasty food. I wish that they give slightly better portions to fill a man up! I like GZ because usually a Vegetarian, or in this case mostly vegetarian, place just makes the usual dishes with Tofu or Seitan or some other fake meat product. Here they go out of their way to make food that uses the flavor, texture and variety of the Vegetarian table to give someone like me, a Vegetarian all my life, a new way to look at the Vegetarian cooking. They use influences from Asian cooking, but with subtlety and restraint. The food pops.

I think their Brunch is a better value. I was there for my 1st LTH Small Family Vegetarian Exchange and thoroughly enjoyed that. I will definitely go back for brunch. I will probably be back for dinner too, but wait till they offer another Groupon. :-)

Whenever I think/or hear of this place it makes me smile. My wife and I went there within a few days of them opening. They were a few blocks from our apartment, so despite being vegetarian/vegan (whatever), we thought we'd gave them a try... I think we spent over $275 on food, wine, and tip.

We got no more than five steps away from the place, stopped dead in our tracks, looked at each other and said in unison "I'm still hungry!".

So we jumped in our car, drove to La Pasadita, and split 12 tacos between the two of us... Good times...

~GS

happy_stomach wrote:

Kennyz wrote:I went last summer, and wish I had posted then, because I can't remember details now. I do remember that we decided it wasn't good enough to return unless someone else pays.

I heard the same thing from a good friend about a Green Zebra meal he had in the last year. I didn't get any details though.

I've completely flipped on this. My meal this week at Green Zebra included some of the best-tasting restaurant food I've had all year. The cauliflower pots de creme packed intense flavor into smooth, rich, mouth-coating texture, and the sassafrass gelee served with it was a creative, delicious accompaniment. Mushroom soup with crispy matsutakes was another texture and flavor marvel. Five spice ice cream served with carrot cake was one of the best ice creams I've had.

Hated the music. Hated the loud, cramped space. Hated the placemat-like tabletops. Hated the nasty, lingering smell of burning hair when one of the trendy patrons lit herself on fire with a candle. Loved, loved, loved the food though.

My meal this week at Green Zebra included some of the best-tasting restaurant food I've had all year. The cauliflower pots de creme packed intense flavor into smooth, rich, mouth-coating texture, and the sassafrass gelee served with it was a creative, delicious accompaniment.

I was there last week, and completely agree on the cauliflower pots de creme. The best dish I've had so far in 2010. The root vegetable pot pie my gf ordered was very rich and satisfying, though a creamed spinach crepe I had was nice but less successful. We wandered in here around 9pm on a Saturday after deciding not to wait at Habana Libre, and were very pleased with the meal. Did not miss meat for one second.

We got no more than five steps away from the place, stopped dead in our tracks, looked at each other and said in unison "I'm still hungry!".

So we jumped in our car, drove to La Pasadita, and split 12 tacos between the two of us... Good times...

I'm always impressed with the appetites of people on this board. I had two plates and a single marshmallow for dessert at Green Zebra and walked out stuffed!

mcg wrote:I'm always impressed with the appetites of people on this board. I had two plates and a single marshmallow for dessert at Green Zebra and walked out stuffed!

Definitely depends what you order. That pots de creme, for example, was incredibly fiilling. As much as I loved it, I did not finish it because I was pretty sure I would not have room for anything else if I did. The mushroom soup was similarly generous and filling. The sunchoke ravioli, on the other hand, were skimpy. Something like 3 very thin, 2 inch squares of lightly filled pasta.

I had a very nice meal with friends at Green Zebra the other night. A few highlights from the meal included:

Spiced hush puppies - Crisp, moist and very flavorful (5 to the order if I recall correctly) . . . best I've ever had.

Soft boiled egg with brioche and tarragon - This was like the perfect deviled egg, deconstructed. Great flavor and delicious toasted brioche.

Hot and sour soup with udon - Delicious broth, excellent udon and great combination of ingredients (which I cannot recall).

We ordered several other dishes and pretty much enjoyed them all (including the aforementioned cauliflower pot de creme and root vegetable pot pie), but the above three were the most memorable. I'm excited to return once all of the spring produce becomes available.

I dined at Green Zebra last night. The drinks were the only disappointment of the night. My companion ordered a Tequila Sour that was overpowered with lemon juice and my dessert (Root Beer Float, vanilla ice cream, ginger, warm pretzel, dark chocolate) tasted more like a ginger ale. Now the food review....

The highlights of my meal:

1) Creamy Anson Mills Grits, caramelized fennel, maitake mushroom, sage

I loved the balance of the caramelized fennel with the creamy grits.

2) Lemon Spätzle, baby carrots, Werp Farm pea shoots, ginger

This was my favorite savory dish of the night. The spätzle had a nice soft texture and everything came together perfectly.

3) Slow Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms, crispy potato, savoy cabbage

This dish is Green Zebra's rendition of a vegetarian maki. We were pleasantly surprised and I am determined to research roasted shiitake mushrooms recipes now.

4) Crispy Chickpea, parsley, tzatziki, Werp Farm Radishes

This dish was essentially a chickpea falafel. My companion thought the chickpea was too hard. I agree with her but the tzatziki sauce made me forget this shortcoming.

The remaining dishes gave me a feeling of indifference. Nothing stood out for me.

5) Roasted Beet Carpaccio, Spence Farm radishes, pickles, preserved lemon, parmesan
6) Grilled Heart of Palm, citrus, avocado, salty macadamia nuts, osaka greens
7) Cauliflower Pots de Creme, sassafras, brown butter, brioche

Thankfully, the dishes came out in reverse order and the meal got progressively better. The former definitely made me forget the latter.

TAC Crazy wrote:I dined at Green Zebra last night. The drinks were the only disappointment of the night.

I dined with TAC Crazy. He's a more generous person than I am, so I had a few more criticisms. First, the Tequila Sour was one of the most sour things I've ever consumed. Trying really hard, I could detect some pink peppercorn, but I couldn't taste the tequila at all. I've recently been considering boycotting mediocre cocktails; this was bad.

On to food: I enjoyed the concentrated flavor and velvety texture of the pots de creme, but the toast seemed too buttered and light of a vehicle for it. The heart of palm salad had potential--the flavors worked well together--but the temperatures and textures were wonky. The salad was warm, so the greens and grapefruit were somewhat limp and mushy after topped with the guacamole. The dish overall would have benefitted from an element with a firmer bite and/or some plumpness.

I also liked the sweetness of the grits with fennel, and the spätzle was delicate and refreshing. The first bite of shiitake mushrooms in crispy potato was quite good with a strong mushroom flavor, but subsequent bites were dominated by the overly greasy potato wrapper.

The falafel were definitely the low point of the meal. Terrible. They were dry and pasty and flavorless--the worst thing I've eaten lately. I have no investment in Green Zebra; I'm glad it's an option for vegetarians, but I can find similar food prepared better elsewhere.

Had brunch on Sunday.

Amuse- Madeline with a fantastic five-spiced butter & house-made blueberry preseves.

The pink peppercorn & thyme soda was a winner as usual. I wish they would bottle this & sell it.

I had a popover with mushrooms and goat cheese. Thankfully, I couldn't taste the goat cheese but this was delicious.

I noticed that the "bacon" was not on the menu. It was made with slow-cooked mushrooms & I think Maple syrup if memory serves me correctly. The one non-vegetarian item, the peeky-toe crab sandwich, was also missing.

I'm going back for dinner before the month is out.

pairs4life wrote:The pink peppercorn & thyme soda was a winner as usual. I wish they would bottle this & sell it.

Taking the cue from a friend who made GZ's pink peppercorn & thyme soda for a dinner party, I've made it at home with success. Here's the recipe.

happy_stomach wrote:

pairs4life wrote:The pink peppercorn & thyme soda was a winner as usual. I wish they would bottle this & sell it.

Taking the cue from a friend who made GZ's pink peppercorn & thyme soda for a dinner party, I've made it at home with success. Here's the recipe.

Hmmm, perhaps I can make it for the next dessert exchange. There's some effort in that starting with toasting anise. Good thing I don't begrudge the price of the beverage, there's definitely some labor in that non-alcoholic libation.

Has anyone done the tasting menu here recently? I'm looking for a spot for our wedding anniversary dinner in mid-June and while I've requested a reservation at El ideas, I seriously doubt they have an opening.

As such, given the fact that my wife doesn't drink or eat seafood, I thought Green Zebra, with its non-alcoholic pairings for her (and wine for me) might be a good option. I haven't been there in maybe 5 years, so I wanted to see if it was still worth visiting and specifically, whether anyone has tasting menu/a la carte preferences. Thanks!

Adam

I've only posted about GZ once, but it is in my regular Chicago rotation, and I have never failed to be satisfied there. I originally went there out of curiosity, but got hooked when my daughter, who prefers vegan fare, began to eat gluten-free.

The quality ingredients and artistry are consistent, and I tend to feel truly stuffed after each visit. The one thing that makes this place so surprising is that the dishes are so flavorful that, like others who posted upthread, I have never missed the meat element.

My most recent visit was for one of their special promotion menus, an excellent value at (IIRC) $44. (I'm on their email list, so I get advance notice of these dinners.) The roasted Brussels sprouts are intense.

Service has been outstanding, nigh impeccable. I would not hesitate to choose GZ for a special occasion. Come to think if it, I have chosen it for four special occasions.

We've done a few of the ingredient themed tasting menus they were doing in the fall, and they ranged from okay to excellent. You are limited by not being able to make substitutions, though, and in my experience they haven't been cheaper than ordering the same number of courses off the regular menu. Overall I think Green Zebra offers good value, but the tasting menus don't seem to save you any money.

The food and service are still excellent too, and it's the only vegetarian restaurant I've brought avowed meat eaters to where they haven't gone away a little hungry or disappointed.

Thanks for the perspective. We're going to give it a shot, but after looking at the menu, I think we may just go a la carte, because we can try 10 different dishes instead of 5 with the tasting. I'll post with a recent data point after the meal. Thanks again.

Adam

Green Zebra has been on my radar since it opened, but an an omnivore, never felt the need. I love vegetables and they are more important to me than meat and fish, but I still love meat. We have always eaten a few vegetarian meals per week, without the focus of being a vegetarian meal, we just didn't include meat.

Since my wife and youngest daughter stopped eating meat several months ago, I thought GZ may give us some ideas for new recipes.

Our waitress said most folks order two to four dishes (all small plates) per person and most order three. My wife and I shared seven dishes and all were excellent, not just excellent for a vegetarian dish.

Here are the dishes we ordered:

Hen of The Woods Mushroom Pâté, Vidalia onion marmalade, herb butter (I love pate and I almost didn't miss the meat - very good. Great match for our 07 River-Marie 'Willow Creek pinot noir)

Creamy Illinois Sweet Corn Soup, confit yukon potato, roasted red pepper, black truffle (very nice)

Summer Squash Risotto, sautéed eggplant, basil goat cheese, sunflower seeds, frisée (one of our two favorite dishes)

Fresh Cavatelli, abalone mushrooms, roasted fennel, English pea purée (I really enjoyed it, a bit more than Nancy)

Carrot Spaetzle, snap peas, roasted cipollini, broccoli, tzatziki, lemon balm (a subtle dish, but very good)

Eggplant & Tofu Dumplings, sweet chili sauce, poblano pepper, Savoy cabbage (not missing pork in these dumplings - great flavor)

Creamy Polenta, wild bergamot, Red Russian kale, wild mushroom, spring onion (our second favorite dish. I am normally not a creamy polenta fan, preferring it baked/grilled or fried, but this was delicious)

GZ is a very handsome space that currently had an exhibition of paintings by Amanda Voltz (including several large canvases) that were perfect for the room.

We passed on dessert, since my wife requested stopping at the nearby Black Dog gelato, our current favorite gelato.

It is amazing that Chicago cannot support other vegetarian restaurants similar to GZ. This isn't vegetarian food, it is fine-dining without meat.

Al Ehrhardt wrote:It is amazing that Chicago cannot support other vegetarian restaurants similar to GZ. This isn't vegetarian food, it is fine-dining without meat.

Sounds like a great meal. It's been a couple years since my last visit to Green Zebra and I really would like to get back there soon.

If you're looking for meatless cuisine with a similarly high aesthetic, I recommend checking out Mana Food Bar on Division, which is stellar. For equally delicious meatless food in a slightly more downscale setting, check out Urban Vegan on Montrose. I've only been to their original location but they have a second location on Fullerton, which I believe is now open.

=R=

Mana Food Bar
1742 W Division St
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 342-1742

Urban Vegan
1605 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 404-1109

Urban Vegan
1550 W Fullerton Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 472-8208

A quick bump on this thread to commend Green Zebra for not only still turning out interesting and tasty vegetarian fare, but also for handling a recent incident at their restaurant with grace.

I won't get into too much detail, but about 6 weeks ago I went to Green Zebra with a party of 6 (with reservations) for a special occasion, and while the food was delicious and our server delightful, the host/manager was rude when we arrived and we nearly left before even being seated.

I wrote them an email and expressed my dismay that we would likely not return despite the wonderful meal itself, because that's just not how we want our overall experience to be. I got an immediate phone call from another member of their management team, Elizabeth, who was gracious and understanding and immediately invited us back and asked for my address to send a gift certificate ("not a small one, either," she noted) as incentive. Indeed, a few days later $100 gift certificate was in my mailbox.

I returned this past Monday with two friends (not my family members who were part of the initial party) and the restaurant went above and beyond to make our experience pleasant. The food was, again, well executed and we were hard pressed to not order one of everything on the menu because it all sounded so good. We had a few items brought compliments of the kitchen but still ordered a good amount on our own. Standouts were the mushroom pate, "twix" dessert, kale salad, polenta, and mushrooms with kimchi.

I share this story both to encourage people not to forget that this little gem is still around, but also to highlight a job well done in responding to a patron's concerns. I'm pleased to say I will certainly be returning on my own dime again.

That is a great story, mailsf. We've thoroughly enjoyed Green Zebra in the past, and it's been too long since we were there. Good to know the quality is holding up. Encourages a future visit.

I would add one more "learning" to the conclusion in your last paragraph. Which is that it often pays (not just in gift certificates, but other less tangible ways) to speak up. Too often we just "take" abuse when we shouldn't. Sometimes the reason is that we're afraid the response of the restaurant will be unsatisfactory, and that this will make us even angrier, more helpless feeling, and more upset than we already are, so we don't risk it. Glad to know that with Green Zebra your action had a happy ending.