As coffee houses continue to morph into restaurants and even bars, Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea has found a way to set itself above the offerings at mega-coffee chains by partnering with another well-respected artisanal Chicago food business. As of Monday, Pastoral Artisan Cheese Bread & Wine has begun providing three Intelligentsia coffee shops with sandwiches, salads and plates of cheese and charcuterie. Made fresh daily, the prepackaged offerings will be available at Intelligentsia stores on north Broadway, opposite Millennium Park and in the Monadnock Building in the Loop. Prices are all in the $7-8 range. Intelligentsia founder Doug Zell says, “It’s exciting for Intelligentsia Coffee to join forces with Pastoral, particularly since both companies originally started within blocks of one another in Chicago’s East Lakeview neighborhood… We share a similar mission with Pastoral to make high quality food accessible and approachable to our customers.”
