Green Zebra

After going to Custom House, I've been wanting to try out Spring and Green Zebra. Zack and I went out to Green Zebra with my friends Shawn and Vahideh this past weekend. It's a place with a mostly vegetarian menu (there's even an option to order most dishes vegan-friendly). Every dish has an interesting combination of ingredients in creative forms.

Apparently, they have seasonal menus and even these seasonal menus are dynamic because the menu online was slightly different than the menu for October 15. For example, Zack had a heirloom tomato appetizer that is not listed on the menu online. Also, the blue cheese cake (below) that I ordered came with a Reisling reduction instead of the port reduction on the online menu.

Here's what I ordered:

• Warm Blue Cheese Cake, pea tendrils, almond "ice cream" and Reisling reduction
• Creamy Beet Raviolis, black walnuts, torpedo onions and aged blue cheese
• Chestnut & Black Rice Cake, swiss chard, baby carrot & green cardamom
• Lemon Olive Oil Pot de Creme

The portions are a perfect size to order three or four dishes and a dessert and have yourself an intense tastebud workout. It was really fun to try and figure out what exactly you were eating. As Vahideh pointed out, most of the dishes were rich and really made you forget that you're not eating meat (for those of us that feel a meal is not a meal without meat). The dishes pay really close attention to contrast and balance. For example, the blue cheese cake had bitter (pea tendrils) against sweet (Resling reduction) and warm (blue cheese) against cold (almond "ice cream"). I also noticed that many dishes like the beet ravioli include a bitter element, which tends to get neglected in many dishes.

I also want to add that the service was outstanding and that the decor is very clean. The waitress was very helpful with explaining the dishes and recommending dishes. It's definitely not an everyday dining spot, but if you're looking for a culinary adventure and you're itching to burn some cash, this is the place to go.

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