GL_092718

glenviewlantern.com dining out
the glenview lantern | September 27, 2018 | 33
Quick Bites
Hold onto your Lederhosen
22nd Century
Media editors
sample German
dishes
Staff Report
The true Oktoberfest
might be halfway across
the world, but some North
Shore area restaurants give
their best impressions of
the annual month-long celebration.
When many people
think of Oktoberfest, they
think of beer, sausage,
pretzels and a whole food
group that will warm you
up just in time for the falling
leaves and temperatures.
There have been different
adaptations of this
in the U.S., with heavier
beers and delicious foods
taking the forefront for
those celebrating.
Editors from all seven
North Shore newspapers
went out into area restaurants
to find the best
food to make you feel like
you’re back in Germany,
celebrating the start of another
fall season.
Giant Pretzel — North
Branch, Glenview
There’s nothing that
warms the body and soul
as much as a giant, soft
pretzel when the leaves
and temperature start to
fall.
North Shore residents
don’t have to go too far to
find just that at Glenview’s
North Branch, where it
offers the Giant Pretzels
($5.95/$8.95). Home to
many Glenbrook South
fans, students and faculty,
North Branch has made its
name from working within
the community and working
with the freshest ingredients
and recipes.
That’s just the case with
the warms pretzels when
they come out on what
seems like a plate that
takes up half the table.
Customers can smell just
how fresh from the kitchen
the appetizer is before they
take a first bite that will
likely leave eaters wanting
more. There is just a right
amount of light salt on the
pretzels, as there are plenty
to share — unless an eater
is looking to fill up and get
ready for the cold winter.
The pretzels are served
with a healthy serving of
North Branch’s homemade
four-cheese dipping
sauce that the owners have
worked to perfect with the
right distribution between
cheese and a little bit of
garlic — this isn’t your
typical bland cheese sauce.
North Branch likes to
change around 25 percent
of its menu throughout the
year to keep things fresh,
but it’s hard to get rid of
a staple customers enjoy
to share or hog, especially
before a cool, Friday night
GBS football game.
North Branch is open
11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-
Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday. For more
information, visit www.
northbranchglenview.com
or find them on Facebook.
Story by Michal Dwojak,
Sports Editor
Pork shank — Bluegrass,
Highland Park
For a few weeks every
fall, Bluegrass in Highland
Park offers diners a seasonal
Oktoberfest menu,
which highlights its take
on German staples.
According to owner Jim
Lederer, the “show-stopper”
Oktoberfest menu item is
the restaurant’s pork shank.
“You see it going
through a dining room and
everyone kind of looks
up,” Lederer said. “It’s a
beautiful presentation.”
The restaurant will cook
between six and eight pork
shanks a day, and serve
them until they sell out for
the day.
Bluegrass specially orders
cuts of shank, and
bakes it for three and a half
hours, before being finished
in a convection oven
— giving the dish a crispy
outside, similar to chicharrón,
according to Lederer.
Each serving of the pork
shank is between two and
three pounds of meat.
“Sometimes they sell
out in the first hour, sometimes
they don’t sell out
until 7 p.m.,” Lederer said.
“But we sell out almost every
single night.”
Bluegrass started serving
the dish in 2007, when
they transitioned their Fall
Fest menu to an Oktoberfest
menu after their chef
took a trip to the Andechs
in Germany.
“He had [the pork shank]
there, and then brought
it back here to replicate,”
Lederer said. “His exuberance
was just over the top,
so we brought in schnitzel,
we brought in the sausages,
we’ve got some pretzel
bites, so we’ve shifted it to
just some kind of cool, fun
and different products that
are German in nature and
have some good flavor.”
Bluegrass is open 11
a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
Tuesdays through Fridays,
5-9 p.m. Saturdays and 5-8
p.m. Sundays.
Story by Erin Yarnall, Contributing
Editor
The Giant Pretzels ($5.95/$8.95) is a staple at Glenview’s
North Branch. Michal Dwojak/22nd Century Media
Giant soft pretzel — Stormy’s
Tavern and Grille, Northfield
For the first time ever,
Stormy’s Tavern and Grille
is marking its anniversary
in a big way this fall.
Heading into its eighth
year of business in October,
the Northfield establishment
is hosting its inaugural
Oktoberfest from
2-11 p.m. Oct. 13 at 1735
Orchard Lane, Northfield.
At the fest, there will be
plenty of entertainment,
like Dave Hoffheimer
Band and Dick Holliday
and The Bamboo Gang,
and a video game truck
for the kids. However,
Stormy’s manager Christina
Cortesi thinks it will be
the food and drink that will
get people out and about.
“This is a great kickoff
to our anniversary and
something we’ve never
done before,” Cortesi said.
“We’re going to have a
beer truck and food like
Guinness brats, pretzels,
pizza, hot dogs and bags of
chips.”
In preparation for Oktoberfest,
I tried the giant
soft pretzel ($8.25.
Baked fresh in the kitchen,
the doughy pretzel —
an Oktoberfest staple —
was dusted with salt and
served with a side of warm
beer cheese. The appetizer
reminded me of colder
weather.
Stormy’s is open seven
days a week from 11 a.m.-
1 a.m. For Oktoberfest,
the kitchen will close at 2
p.m. Oct. 13 in preparation
of the outdoor event.
For more information, call
(847) 441-8290 or visit
www.stormystavern.com.
Full story at GlenviewLantern.com.
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