Chicago: Where to Eat: Relaxed but Refined: Green Zebra

Green Zebra

Any restaurant named for an heirloom tomato variety is bound to be serious about fresh organic produce, and so it is with the Green Zebra, a mostly vegetarian restaurant that opened in West Town (near downtown) in 2004. The plates are small, which is a good thing, since you’ll likely want to taste a whole range of them: fresh burrata cheese with smoked radicchio, sunchoke and apricot mostarda; slow-roasted shiitake mushrooms in a crispy potato; sweet-potato tart with bourbon maple syrup, blue cheese and roasted shallot; root-vegetable cassoulet. And now the secret’s out: last year chef Shawn McClain, who also owns Chicago’s much lauded Spring and Custom House restaurants, won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Midwest. Closed Mondays.