Prairie Grass Cafe – Chef and Baker Duo Make a Sweet Team
by Natalie Rose Hilvert

“Life is short – eat dessert first!”  Northbrook is home to Praire Grass Cafe: a farm-to-table restaurant serving flavorful entrees and delectable cakes. Two-time James Beard Award-Winning Chef, Sarah Stenger, joined forces with life-long friend, Cindy Kienzle of The Hungry Monkey Baking Company, for a feast sure to tickle anyone’s sweet tooth.

The chef duo started our tasty journey with Tempura Day Lilies, a light start to our meal.  The Tangy Dipping Sauce complemented the crispy Tempura Batter.  Our standout appetizer was definitely the Citrus Marinated Beet Salad. Deep Red Beets mixed beautifully with Oranges sprinkled with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts, which kept our taste buds excited for more to come.

Chef Stenger, who got her start at the Ritz-Carlton, recommended the Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. I knew I could not pass that up.  The sensationally pink salmon was denser than any salmon I had ever tasted.  The intensely flavorful fish was perfectly seasoned and complemented with Sautéed Red Potatoes, Sweet Pea Puree, and Lemon Butter Sauce.

Finally, we moved on to what I considered the main course. Chef Cindy presented us with samples of each of her five cakes: Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake, Carrot Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Double Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Mascarpone Buttercream, and Sticky Toffee Date Cake. My favorite was the Salted Caramel cake, which was a rich and dark chocolate cake smothered with sweet caramel, topped with flakes of sea-salt.  The Carrot Cake was deliciously moist and delectable.  The light Cream Cheese Frosting did not overbear the natural and pure flavors of the cake.

Chef Cindy shared an encouraging message of following our dreams through her story of losing her job, taking a solo trip through France and starting the Hungry Monkey Baking Company at age 50. Such a sweet end to our meal truly showed her passion in a tangible and delicious fashion.

Chef Stenger and Chef Cindy hosted a fabulous dinner at Prairie Grass Cafe. Northbrook is a fantastic area of Chicago to visit, especially in peak summer weather, and their restaurant is nothing less of a perfect highlight of the town.

Prairie Grass Cafe is open Monday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday through Sunday from 10 a.m. (9:30 a.m. Sunday) to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

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