Smells Like Green Spirit

I have never heard more hype for any restaurant in all of my life, and as the first certified organic restaurant in the Midwest, and the fourth one in the entire country, the buzz is well deserved. The mastermind behind the organic pizzaria, located on 2056 W Division Street, is Michael Altenberg, the mind behind Campagnola in Evanston and Bistro Campagne in Lincoln Square (neither of which I’ve been to yet).

I’ve dined at Crust three times, and the waitstaff there is so nice, Altenberg either pays them in Prozac,  or they love their job. As popular as the restaurant is, I’ve never had to wait for a table, though all three times I’ve visited around lunch time. The decor is a little unimpressive, a little bare, a little boring, but it is open and bright, and there is plenty of outdoor seating.

Though I’ve yet to try anything alcoholic there, organic mint juleps, martinis and beers might just tempt me back one of these days.

MENU

Vegetarians can get their fill of greens on several salads including the Sun Salad (rainbow seaweed, carrots, cucumber, miso-plum vinagrette)  and the Sweet Basil Salad (fresh-pulled mozerella, tomato, red onion, basil). The sandwich menu has two vegetarian options: the Grilled Cheese (kalona cooperative cheddar, brioche bread, tomato basil soup) and the Californian (fire-roasted green chiles, muenster, tomato, avocado, artichoke, poilane bread and mayo).

Finally, we come to Crust’s specialty, its wood oven cooked flatbread pizza, the blackened bottoms of which always leave my fingers a little…well…blackened, and more than satisfied. Vegetarian pizzas include the Wild Herb and Cheese, the Shroom (roasted shrooms, goat cheese, tossed baby spinach), the Basilico (melted tomatoes, bechamel, fresh mozerella, and basil), and the El Greco (feta, artichoke, kalamata olive, red onion, roasted tomato).

There are plenty of meat and seafood options for any omnivores including the Brown Derby salad (chicken, bacon, egg, cheddar, avocado, tomato, russian dressing), sandwiches like the Pulled Pork and the Tall Grass Beef, and flatbreads like the Flammkuchen (caramelized onion, bechamel, caraway seed, slab bacon) and the Mexicali Blues (wood-fired shrimp, chihuahua cheese, pico de gallo, cilantro).

This visit, I split a large Caesar salad with my fella, and ordered the Wild Herb and Cheese flatbread. The Caesar salad is amazing.  I could eat the shaved Spanish manchego cheese all day long, and the “poilane crouton” was like the refined, elegant cousin of melba toast.

I’ve had several of the non vegetarian pizzas here in the past — including the Flamkuchen and the Mexicali Blues — and I didn’t love the Wild Herb and Cheese pizza I ordered this time quite as much. It was still very good, and I am eagerly awaiting my next visit, where I’ll try either the El Greco or the Basilico.

For dessert, we split the vegan chocolate cake, which was nice, but probably not as good as it would have been had we ordered it a la mode. Next time!

PROS

C’mon! It’s certified organic!

Nice staff

Locally grown ingredients

Consistently good food

Vegetarian and meat options

Reasonabley priced

CONS

I’m happy to report there are none to speak of

WEBSITE

www.crusteatreal.org

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