Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/198792
ABOVE: Vintage furniture creates a cozy atmosphere in the lounge. BELOW: Stanley Tucci and Annette Bening have dined at Found Kitchen. continued from page 84 business to hire people with minimal skills and hopefully be a stepping stone to them leading more independent lives." As passionate as Morton is about the cause, Found is first and foremost an excellent restaurant, with a scene marvelously set by the room's wildly eclectic, welcoming ambience, described by Morton as "Gertrude Stein's salon of 1920s Paris meets Jack Kerouac— in my living room." That's a mouthful, but it perfectly captures the bohemian aesthetic of the space, whose cozy front lounge beckons with mismatched, overstuffed armchairs along with a wall of vintage paintings, and whose inviting back library boasts bookshelves lined with copper pots and candles and overflowing with novels. On any given night, the place is packed to capacity (a recent Wednesday saw waits at the no-reservations restaurant stretching to 90 minutes at 7 PM) with a crowd that would make Stein smile: Northwestern faculty members debating policy, young professionals on dates, parents with children—all reveling in the salonlike, collegial environment. Though Found is Morton's house, it is without a doubt Pederson's show. Her seasonal menu offers a world of tempting small plates that demonstrate a deft balance of flavors, from quinoa and moist poached chicken salad with tangy green olives and feta to crisp-chewy bacon and leek flatbread, from lamb meatballs topped with zesty pistachio chimichurri that have justifiably become a house signature to decadent 86 desserts like cinnamon pound cake with peaches and butter pecan ice cream. Looking ahead to the autumn menu, Pederson enthuses, "We'll bring back our roasted squash with Brussels sprouts and chorizo—it was so popular—and for the pork chop we'll do a very autumnal black walnut and Concord grape relish with farro and a yogurt sauce, which will be really fun." A year into the life of Found and its stunning success as both restaurant and agent of social change, Chef Nicole what has Morton learned? "Oh, Pederson (LEFT) makes killer small so much," she marvels. "That plates, like we should never take things for crisp-chewy bacon and leek granted. That although we've flatbread (ABOVE). been blessed with great press, the only real judges are the people who are sitting in our restaurant." For now, Morton is focused on expanding the restaurant's presence with monthly off-site "Moveable Feast" dinners—and starting to sell off some of the restaurant's lounge furniture, which was meant to be for sale from the start. Laughs Morton, "When we opened we were so incredibly busy, I couldn't find the time to find new pieces. We're just this week listing on the menu that the majority of the furniture in the lounge is for sale, because I'm ready to start—it's the next evolution. People change, places change, and Found needs to change, too." 1631 Chicago Ave., Evanston, 847-868-8945; foundkitchen.com MA PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES (BENING, TUCCI); ANJALI PINTO (FOUND) TASTE SWEET SEATS Belly up to the kitchen bar in these cozy raised love seats. The best tables at Found aren't tables at all—they're the three "double booth stools" at the kitchen counter just beyond the bar. Modeled after similar stools in a bar that Morton's grandfather owned, they give a bird's-eye view of the action in the front kitchen. "Not only are they super-fun and comfy," says Morton, "but people love sitting in the kitchen." The best of the bunch? "We call it Table 41," Morton shares, "right next to the chef. They get a lot of special nibbles." MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 084-086_MA_Taste_SMD_Nov13.indd 86 10/21/13 10:47 AM