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Joann Lindholm was taste testing
after-dinner wines at 10 in the morning. She had to. It's part
of her job.
A owner of Fresh Starts gourmet restaurant in Flossmoor,
Lindholm said between dutiful sips that she was dressing up the
"dessert wine list" because "our desserts are so good and there
is a small clientele who like an after-dinner drink besides
coffee or espresso."
For years desserts have been, Fresh Starts', well, bread and
butter. For years also, Fresh Starts' customers have enjoyed
Ordering precisely what they want.
Say, for instance, you have a taste for strip steak but the
mushroom bleu cheese sauce (which, by the way, is out of this
world) just doesn't suit your fancy. Our chef won't be offended
if you say so. Instead, he'll make you the sauce you'd prefer.
Likewise, if you want something grilled rather than sauteed, OK.
To understand Fresh Starts' personalized touch, one must go back
a few years.
Long before Fresh Starts was a gourmet restaurant in fashionable
Flossmoor, it was a bakery and catering business on the South
Side. Fresh Starts specialized in supplying downtown restaurants
wit pies, cakes, torts, pastries, brownies, cheesecakes --- all
made from scratch, each order distinct. Today, Fresh Starts is
"one of last three 'scratch bakeries' in the Chicago area, "
Lindholm said.
The restaurant is remodeled every January and currently has an
European decor. But the fare is unmistakably American,
specializing in fish and pasta dishes.
Meals don't include salads, so start with one of their "famous
soups of the day". Everyday there's two soups: Cold soups in the
summer are common, chicken chili in the winter.
Appetizers are worth a taste. Those with adventurous taste buds
might try the stuffed artichoke or pan-seared goat cheese with
tomato pesto, while traditionalists can't go wrong with sauteed
scallops or lobster ravioli.
The dinner menu features several pasta dishes from fettuccine
with braised duck to Pasta Santa Fe (with shrimp, avocado, black
olives in spicy sauce) - plus a variety of entrees, including
different fresh-catch-of -the-day choices, rack of lamb and
steaks. Each entree has its own distinctive sauce.
Desserts, of course, are a must. Take your pick from a dozen or
two fresh ones each day.
The lunch menu features a lighter fare, including salads,
sandwiches, hot and cold entrees and vegetarian specials, as
well as those delicious desserts.
And because it's a bakery, which happens to be located across
from the Flossmoor train station, commuters line up for fresh
pastries for the morning commute.
All in all, Fresh Starts lends this small village a distinctive
uptown flavor, morning, noon and night. |
