I love a good story. I also love a good story that has a positive impact and somehow benefits me (come on, who doesn’t???).
Here’s a quick summary of the story: Indian family (not mine!) goes to renowned restaurant The Boarding House in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. They notice the menu is not very vegetarian friendly and most dishes need to be modified to become vegetarian. They are not thrilled and write a Yelp review expressing their unhappiness. Famed owner Alpana Singh (master sommelier and previous host of the TV show Check, Please!) responds to this Yelp review and really takes it to heart. She meets with her restaurant partners and chef and not only comes up with vegetarian options for the restaurant, but an entire vegetarian menu! How’s that for being action-oriented??!!
I was floored when I found this out! I had been to The Boarding House before for drinks and appetizers, but never for dinner. I was definitely excited to check it out and try out a menu that felt designed just for me. This was pretty exciting since it is rare to have restaurants have an entire separate vegetarian menu.
One word to describe every single course I had: awesome! There was not one thing I didn’t like from everything we ate. I’m going to highlight a few of my favorites, but just so you know, The Boarding House changes the menu up every few weeks, so you might not see the same items I had. Which is ok, cause then you can tell me your favorites!
Seasonal Soup– Roasted organic heirloom tomato soup, house made ricotta cheese, basil pesto, asiago cheese croutons
Fried Egg– Sautéed asparagus, lemon aioli, garlic breadcrumbs
Asian Style Sauteed Vegetables- Zucchini ribbons, julienned carrots, peppers, onions, garlic, sugar snap peas, black and white sesame seeds (this dish is vegan)
Trio Of Desserts – Blueberry and goat cheese bread pudding, Julia’s carrot cake with walnuts and cream cheese frosting and oatmeal raisin cream pie with bobtail vanilla ice cream all served along with two dessert wines
Yes, this dinner was amazing! The moral of the story is that your Yelp reviews can make a difference and more importantly, you should definitely check out The Boarding House, vegetarian or not. You will probably see me there as I plan to continue to check out all the wonderful new menu items on the constantly changing vegetarian menu.
Please Note: I was invited to a private dinner at The Boarding House; all opinions are my own.
Those dishes look amazing!!! (As you said – ha!) Great picture of you two as well.
Thanks Stacy!! So many people have seen that picture of Alpana and I and said we look like sisters:)
I can totally see that! It’s a great photo 🙂
Great story! Food looks amazing . . . !
Thanks Anuja! We will have to go to Boarding House when you visit again soon:)
As always, your food descriptions leave my mouth watering 😉
Thanks Sonia! Mission accomplished:)
Word! Making change. Good for you… Now I’d like to hear how you got the private invite.
Mary! Thanks for the comment and sharing my link! I was invited to the private dinner by the PR company that represents The Boarding House.