Chefs At The Radler Try A New Kind Of Whole Animal Dinner
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Jun 10, 2014 6:00PM
The Radler is doing a whole animal dinner tomorrow night, featuring veal, a meat you don’t see very often at farm-to-table restaurants. Chef Nathan Sears has partnered with Scott Manley from Table, Donkey and Stick on a nose-to-tail menu with dishes from veal pâté to smoked veal sausage paired with biscuits from Bang Bang Pie Shop and a special amber malted ale with smoked orange and cherry from 18th Street Brewery.
Manley says “Nathan and I worked together and did a lot of butchering together, but we didn’t have a lot of experience with veal and we wanted to do something different.” Unfortunately, veal got a bad reputation in the past due to a production method that produced a bland pale product through confinement. But not all veal is produced this way. Manley says they are getting their veal from Kilgus Farm, which is a small-scale local dairy that raises cows on pasture. The result is a meat that’s tender, but still beefy. The revival of veal also helps keep dairies on their feet, as male calves not able to grow up to be milk cows are an inevitable part of producing milk.
The dinner in Wednesday June 11 will have two seatings at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Each seat costs $50 per person with an optional beverage pairing for $20. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Logan Square Farmer’s Market. Reservations can be made by calling The Radler (2375 N. Milwaukee Ave.) at (773) 276-0270.