Firefly Kitchen ... Brooklyn Cuisine?

Evanston Lunch Group™ had a surprisingly good meal at a place that's otherwise gotten no notice on LTH. Firefly Kitchen is only about ten months old, located in a total overhaul of the old A La Carte.

Getting there early and waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, I looked over the well-curated beer list, with a reasonable sampling of local brews (well, maybe not extremely local; there are no commercial breweries in Wilmette). I ordered a sampler of (left to right) Smittytown, from Evanston's Temperance Brewing, Back Alley, from Evanston's Sketchbook Brewing, and Founders Nitro Oatmeal Stout, from Founders in Grand Rapids, MI.
Sandwiches are generous.

The Seafood Salad was almost all delicately-cooked seafood, with a few micro greens, croutons and beans in a light broth. It included generous portions of bay scallops, some lobster, squid, mussels, and a single large shrimp (which I scarfed up).

Portabella Carpaccio was basically a salad, an interesting combination of the mushroom with arugula with a bit of smoked tomato sauce, blue cheese, pine nuts, and a balsamic dressing.

Moetchandon thought the Lobster Roll was a bit heavy on the mayo; I disagreed. The amount of lobster was generous, and reminded me of vacations along Maine's seaside.

I thought the Foot Long Grilled Cheese Sandwich sounded a bit pedestrian - like something Subway might offer at 11" long. We ordered it primarily because we thought it would be easy to divide. It was easy to divide, but otherwise I was wrong. It may have been the best grilled cheese sandwich I've had in decades (not that I've had many of them). Roasted peppers, spicy mayo, fried eggs, and candied bacon on focaccia made it a fascinating variety of flavors.

The Duck Fat Fries, with Parmesan, herbs and jalapeños were fine, but unremarkable. I got very little duck fat flavor ... they could have used a harder fry. But the accompaniments were nice.

Overall, it was an unexpectedly good meal. But, other than the photos on the wall, I wish someone would tell me what makes this "Brooklyn Cuisine."

111 Green Bay Rd
Wilmette, IL 60091
(224) 408-2464

I agree that both the seafood salad and the Portabella Carpaccio were very good. The turkey club was competent, though unexciting. The bacon in it was nice, but what bacon isn't?

Weak spot was the fries (both regular and duck fat) which should have been fried harder as you said. They looked and tasted like McDonald's fries (not necessarily a bad thing) which had been taken out of the fryer too soon.

Service was very good. The waiter was pleasant and accommodating.

Certainly worth a visit.