Eat Your Salad After Dessert at Browntrout


After a quiet opening in North Center a few weeks ago, Browntrout is already getting buzz from the likes of Pollack at Chicago Mag for its green ethos and simple but charming food. What should you eat when you go there? The menu’s divided idiosyncratically — there are “Smalls,” “Bigs,” and “Finals,” which are more or less appetizer/entree/dessert analogs, but also a section called “Shared” (multi-person appetizers?) “Farmed… to Table” (we’re thinking greenmarket fare sized for tasting) and a “Pasta of the Moment” that will change on the chef’s whim. The menu includes a category called “After,” with a single item: a plate of farmed greens in a sherry vinaigrette, described as “European and healthy.” Salad after dessert? We’re calling the trend right here, right now.

While the restaurant’s namesake fish isn’t on the menu, there are other trouts: a three-way tasting of fish preparations includes orange-cured Tasmanian aea trout and applewood-smoked rainbow trout. Plus there’s the entree we’re calling for Most Likely To Be Mentioned In Every Review is their pan-seared Idaho golden trout, prepared “New Zealand style” — i.e. the way chef Sean Sanders and his wife cooked it up while they were honeymooning in Kiwiland, with brown butter, confit shallots, peas, mint, and toasted walnuts. Finish it off with the intriguingly named “Grandma Burns Chocolate Chip Cookies” — it’s not clear if this is a recipe from someone called Grandma Burns, or if the lady has a tendency to overcook them, but they’re served up with a glass of organic milk. Can’t go wrong with that.

Check out the complete menu after the jump.

Browntrout - Dinner Menu

SHARES
Whipped Brandade grilled corn, herb, garlic toast 5.00
Idaho Russet Potato Waffle Chips fresh herbs, gruyere fondue 5.00
Suhaileh’s Hummus tomato, red onion, parsley, grilled pita 5.00
Trio of Cheese with port dates, sherry golden raisins, house crackers 11.00
Browntrout Fish Trio 13.00
Orange Cured Tasmanian Sea Trout: lemon dill mascarpone, bagel chips
Applewood Smoked Rainbow Trout: celery hearts, herbed salad, lemon
Pan-seared Lake Superior Yellow Perch: cucumber mustard sauce

FARMED…TO TABLE
Fresh Farmed Greens honey roasted pecans, fiscalini farms cheddar, house spahm, sherry crème fraiche vinaigrette 7.50
Three Pea pea sprouts, warm english peas, pea tendrils, house-made ricotta cheese , orange vinaigrette 7.00
Morels and Ramps wild mushrooms, petit dejeuner, potato gaufrettes, fresh herbs, apple cider vinaigrette 10.00

SMALLS
Merquez sausage warm lentils, arugula, dried tomato, picholene olives, lamb jus 9.00
Amish Chicken Thigh smoked pistachio chicken mousse, cornmeal polenta, sherry chicken jus 8.00
Buchot-Blue Hill Bay Mussels bacon lardon, tarragon, spinach, vin blanc, baguette 9.00

PASTA OF THE MOMENT
Parpedelle wild mushrooms, herbs, shallots, meatballs, parmesan cheese half 9.00
wild mushrooms, herbs, shallots, meatballs, parmesan cheese whole 16.00

BIGS
Hand-Ground Lamb Gyros tzatziki sauce, onion, french bread, house ketchup, waffle chips 12.00
Tall Grass Beef Burger aioli, house ketchup, brioche bun, waffle chips 13.00
with country bacon add 1.50
your choice of rogue smoky bleu or fiscalini cheddar add 1.50
Falafel Pita with house-made yogurt, mint, cucumber salad, market vegetables 10.00
Grilled Lamb Sirloin celery root risotto, buttered peas, baby carrots, lamb jus 23.00
Pan-Seared Idaho Golden Trout new zealand style (ask the chef), brown butter, confit shallots, peas, mint, toasted walnuts 23.00
Grilled Tallgrass Top Sirlion smashed fingerling potatoes, spring asparagus, horseradish crème fraiche, port jus 25.00
Pan-Seared CanadianWalleye Pike salsify root, morel mushrooms, haricot vert, pea sprouts, salsa verde 24.00
Amish Chicken Breast truffled spaetzle, grilled squash salad, tuaca chicken jus 19.00

FINALS
Strawberry Shortcake stuffed strawberries, lime mascarpone, almond brittle, shortbread 7.00
Grandma Burns Chocolate Chip Cookies organic milk shaken not stirred 6.00
Bananas 3 ways banana walnut cake, vanilla banana salad, banana malt 7.00
Trio of Cheese port dates, sherry golden raisin, house crackers 11.00

AFTER
European and Healthy farmed greens/ sherry vinaigrette 5.00

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Eat Your Salad After Dessert at Browntrout