dining out

Dining at a restaurant that serves fresh, local ingredients no longer requires a long drive to the country.

“Green” has definitely become a buzzword, with all the talk about hybrid cars and carbon footprints – everyone is trying to do their part for the environment.

Cuisine has long taken the lead in all things green, with many celebrated restaurants that were founded on the premise of using fresh, seasonal, locally grown ingredients. Not surprisingly, the early green cuisine pioneers set up shop in rural areas near farms and orchards, rather than busy urban centers.

But these days, travelers can find elegant restaurants serving organic, sustainable food sourced from local farmers, fisheries and ranchers in the heart of major metropolises —a boon for business travelers who rarely have time to get out of the city. The following restaurants, led by some of the nation’s top chefs, offer refined green cuisine in sophisticated settings.

Custom House

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
500 South Dearborn Street
312-523-0200, customhouse.cc

This is the third restaurant from chef Shawn McClain, who worked his magic with seafood at Spring and vegetables at Green Zebra. At his latest creation, Custom House, he focuses on artisanal meats (locally raised lamb, organic chicken and grass-fed beef) and fresh ingredients. McClain, who classifies his menu as regional American with Mediterranean influences, buys from such respected purveyors as Morning Fresh Dairy Farms and Grimaud Farms. Meat-lovers can choose from appetizers like beef carpaccio and assorted salumi with whole-grain mustard, while entrée choices range from braised short ribs with horseradish cream puffs to dry-aged New York strip with an eggplant purée. The array of sides includes roasted Brussels sprouts and salsify with orange zest. History buffs will appreciate that the restaurant’s name comes from the Custom House Levee District (now called Printers Row), once the city’s red-light district filled with saloons, bordellos and gambling parlors.

Eleven Madison Park

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
11 Madison Avenue
212-889-0905, ushgnyc.com

This elegant Art Deco eatery, one of Danny Meyer’s esteemed collection of restaurants (including Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Café and Tabla), was awarded three stars from the New York Times after Swiss-born chef Daniel Humm took over the kitchen in early 2006. His modern French cuisine emphasizes fresh, seasonal ingredients. Humm and his staff shop several times a week at the Union Square Greenmarket, New York’s largest and most popular farmers market, where they buy fresh produce and other products, such as artisanal goat cheese from the small, family-run Lynnhaven Farms in Ulster County. Some of the sophisticated dishes Humm has dreamed up are Vermont Farm suckling pig accompanied by confit with cipollini onions, dried plum chutney and five-spice jus, and Nova Scotia lobster poached with fennel and chamomile.

Flying Fish

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
2234 First Avenue
206-728-8595, flyingfishseattle.com

This Belltown favorite from chef-owner Christine Keff is consistently rated one of Seattle’s best seafood restaurants. Keff is committed to using fresh organic ingredients—she works with numerous fish vendors to ensure that she gets the freshest catches of the day, and also buys from local farms like Whistling Train Farm in the Green River Valley. Her menu, which has a pan-Asian influence, might include such dishes as almond-crusted Oregon skate, banana leaf–wrapped mahi mahi and saffron-poached Alaskan halibut. The wine list boasts bottles from around the world, but the Pacific Northwest is well represented. The spacious dining room offers good views of the bustling open kitchen, and there’s a great bar scene, especially during the seasonal oyster happy hour, where succulent oysters on the half-shell go for just a quarter.

Harvest

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
44 Brattle Street
617-868-2255, harvestcambridge.com


This Harvard Square institution is one of the city’s most beloved dining spots (and the training ground for such esteemed local chefs as Barbara Lynch, Lydia Shire and Frank McClelland). The seasonal contemporary American cuisine by executive chef Keith Poole is rich with New England ingredients, such as Block Island swordfish and Wellfleet oysters. Standout starters include the green-bean salad, fresh sardines and peekytoe crab, while popular entrées include roasted Snake River Farm pork medallion and olive-crusted halibut with wild asparagus. Pastry chef Liz O’Connell also capitalizes on the bounty of New England, incorporating the freshest strawberries, blueberries and apples into her acclaimed desserts. The wine list, which has won Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence, features hard-to-find bottles from South Africa, Chile and Argentina. In warm weather, diners can enjoy a lovely outdoor patio shaded by linden trees.

Jardinière

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
300 Grove Street
415-861-5555, jardiniere.com

In a beautiful landmark brick building in the Civic Center area, chef/owner Traci Des Jardins has created one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated restaurants. Sophisticated California-French cuisine is rooted in organic produce and sustainably raised meats and fish, and Des Jardins and her team have instituted a recycling and composting program. Though the menu changes daily, you might expect Hoffman Ranch breast of chicken with fingerling potatoes, smoked bacon and garden lettuces; Liberty Farms duck breast with bok choy in a ginger consommé; and local king salmon with braised potatoes and watercress. There’s also a fine cheese selection—anything from aged goat’s milk from Northern California to cow’s milk from Oregon, housed in the restaurant’s own cheese cellar. The city’s opera and symphony halls are nearby, ensuring a steady pre- and post-performance crowd that lends a festive vibe to the place.
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JILL FERGUS is a freelance writer in New York.