Monday, December 7, 2009

Crust--sustainable?

On Friday night, my partner and I decided to finally make a pilgrimage to Crust after years of keeping it on our "have to check it out" list. As it was late, cold, and far, we broke down & drove the car. First impressions were good--in spite of a phone conversation with the hostess suggesting we would probably have a 20-30 minute wait, we were seated right away. Our waiter--Patrick?--was awesome. The first thing he said to me was, "I love your glasses. They're open-ended - like life!" And we immediately noticed that there were no bad (mass-produced) beers on the list. The homemade onion dip (with chips) was yummy, as was the arugula salad. We ordered a an arabiatta flatbread to share: wood roasted shrimp, fresh mozzarella, spicy tomato sauce & basil. This is where things started to head south. Not that it wasn't tasty. It was. But I'd still vote for Spacca Napoli's wood-fired pizza any day. But Crust claims to be "Chicago's Finest Organic Eatery and Lounge". They state that although certain menu items "are not certified organic...every effort is made to use responsibly produced, locally produced & wild crafted products. Ask your server for more information on these items. " So we asked where the shrimp came from, and Patrick didn't know - but he cheerfully went to ask. However, the General Manager didn't know, either. Or wasn't saying. "Uh, we get it from a guy. A company. It comes from all over. Wherever they get it." Quite a contrast from Lula Cafe in Logan Square where every server can tell you the name of the sustainable farm where they obtain their shrimp.

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