Prasino

Warm Olives

To celebrate Natalie's grandmother's birthday we decided not to go into Chicago in case we would have any NATO related traffic or disruptions.  Instead we decided to stay close to home and go to Prasino in La Grange.  Natalie had been there twice before but Nick had never been there. Since we came with a group of 5 we were able to sample a few more things than we would have otherwise

Appetizers:

Mushroom Bruschetta

Warm Olives with piquillo pepper, sun-dried tomato, herbs, feta and grilled bread.  They were a little salty and much spicier than we had anticipated.  We enjoyed the olives at Girl and the Goat better - less spicy and oily.
Creamy mushroom bruschetta with grilled bread, Parmesan, tomato and basil.  The waiter recommended this and it was really good. It had a creamy sauce instead of a more traditional tomato sauce, but sauce made the mushroom flavor pop.

Entrees & Sides:

Braised Short Ribs

Grilled Thai Curry Pork Loin

Grilled Thai Curry Pork Loin with  brown rice, mango salad and coconut cashew sauce.  This was definitely spicier than we thought it would be; maybe it would have been a little better if it were sweeter, i.e. a few more mangoes to offset the heat of the curry.
Braised beef short ribs with cauliflower cheddar gratin (roasted cauliflowers, sharp cheddar, bechamel sauce) greens, truffle mushroom Cabernet sauce.  The short ribs were very tender and definitely the best entree.  The cauliflower gratin was really good and came in an interesting shape like it had been cooked in a muffin tin.

Turkey Blue Burger

Taste of Turkey Blue burger with caramelized onions, sauteed apples, spinach, and bleu cheese on a multigrain bun.  Definitely an interesting combination of ingredients, especially apples on a burger.
Taste of Vegetable flat bread (pizza) with corn, tomato, onion, pesto, mozzarella and balsamic.  It tasted really good.  If we were returning to the restaurant we would order one of the flat breads.
Chilled Beets with goat cheese, candied pecans, balsamic glaze.  We must need to eat more beets in our lives because whenever we go out we like to order them and they are super tasty. This was a good light dish.

Veggie Flatbread

Chilled Beets

Fish Tacos

Chocolate Molten Cake

Gooey Butter Cake

Dessert: 

Chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and blueberry compote - true molten with gooey chocolate inside.  The blueberries were really tasty and went well with chocolate.

Taste of Gooey butter cake (for the birthday girl) - it definitely lived up to its name - warm and gooey, slight crust.  Would order this again.

Final Thoughts on Prasino:
Food - Nick would like to come back and try their summer menu.  We should mention that they try to locally source their ingredients and offer many vegetarian and gluten free menu items.
Service - very good, the waiter was willing to give his opinions and recommendations.  Grandma ordered the fish tacos and they made sure to put the hot sauce on the side.
Atmosphere - casual, located right on La Grange Road in downtown La Grange, lots of seating both indoors and outdoors.