Prarie Bread Kitchen

Well-- Not a typical Tuesday. 

Today Leslie needed to be at O'Hare by 10:00 to meet a group of 8th grade students who were flying back from Israel. The 80 kids had spent 7 days touring Israel with the Community Foundation for Jewish Education on the Ta'am Yisrael trip.  Unfortunately, the day they returned, snow returned to Chicago.  So we were in a rush and Leslie had to work the phone during our breakfast.  We decided to go to a standby for us, The Prairie Bread Kitchen, at 103 N. Marion Street.  It is a warm friendly bakery where they now know us by name.  Having recently moved to town, it is a good feeling to be known by people who do not have to know us. 

We both had muffins and coffee for breakfast.  The muffins were moist and tasty and I think they are probably the best we have had in Oak Park.  Their coffee is Intelligensia brand and is very good but we miss having coffee in a real mug.  Prairie Bread Kitchen definitely has the best Challah in town which is probably why they know our names.  One of us goes there every Friday (usually with Abby for a snack and to buy our challah). 

We sat at the window facing Marion Street watching the snow fall, cars splash and people trudge to their destinations.  The bakery always smells good and the folks who work there never rush you out.  The chairs and stools are utilitarian, but it is a bakery, not a restaurant. I know that we will be back. 

Our First Recorded Breakfast -Taste of Brazil

We moved to Oak Park, Il. about 6 months ago.  After the kids began school, we began to explore and realized that a relaxing breakfast together was a great way to spend time enjoying one another's company and learning about our new neighborhood.  We have been to fine restaurants and we have been to dives. Price is no indication of quality.  Our preferences are based on the taste of the food, the ability to read a newspaper and talk in peace, the friendliness of the place and the variety of the menu.

Each week we will visit a new restaurant or revisit an old one and write about our experiences. 

This week we went to Taste of Brasil... Their website doesn't have much going for it, that is not true for the restaurant itself.  It is a little cafe located at 906 S. Oak Park Ave. (across the street from the teacher's store) There are only a handful of tables and it is very casual.  The Cafe is owned by a husband and wife and they do all of the cooking themselves. They were very friendly and the food was delicious.

We started by sharing a bagel and lox, I guess that is for the Brazilian Jews.  The bagel was good -chewy but soft and the the lox was plentiful.  There was no cream cheese on it but there was chopped red onion and capers. It was a good combination of salty and sour.  Next we shared a heart of palm tart. It was an excellent little crust cup filled with heart of palm, artichoke heart and cheese.  You could taste the heart of palm very clearly. One of my favorite flavors.  We were pretty full at this point but moved on next to chicken risoles, our favorite dish of the day.  This was a bit like a croquette filled with chicken, corn and cheese.  It was savory and delicious, the type of food that if it is sitting in front of you you keep eating, even if you are full.  We were full but kept eating and made a promise to one another that we would be back to this restaurant for lunch and dinner.

This type of restaurant is exactly why we are writing this blog. It is clear from the care that went into the preparation of the food and from the wonderful service that the man and wife who run this place are dedicated to food and to their customers. We hope they stay in business for a long time.