Eateries serving up tasty items, tantalizing prices for village's 150th anniversary
The Sir Dugan Frittata is back on the menu at Egg Harbor Café for Hinsdale Restaurant Week, which starts Friday. (Jim Slonoff photos)
The I'm All Ears bourbon cocktail at Il Poggiolo has a special $15 price during restaurant week in honor of the village's 150th anniversary.
From throwback pricing to a vintage menu feature to a special cocktail, Hinsdale Restaurant Week offers a celebration of the village's 150th anniversary - and of delicious food.
At Egg Harbor Café, the Sir Dugan Frittata is returning for the week after a long absence from the menu.
"It's vintage," restaurant manager Angel Gutierrez said. "It was on the menu for a long time."
The bacon, spinach and tomato frittata is topped with jack and cheddar cheeses and a dollop of sour cream. It's named in memory of Dugan, the shih tzu belonging to Egg Harbor owner Mike Farrell and his wife, Aimee. Dugan "tragically died after being run over by our own car," Farrell wrote in an email to employees.
"For all the new employees, he was sharing the story so people could know what's behind the item," Gutierrez said.
The cafe also is offering coffee and iced tea at a special $1.50 price in honor of the village's
sesquicentennial.
At Il Poggiolo, diners can start their meal with a drink special. The I'm All Ears is made of Bullet bourbon, lemonade and peach puree, garnished with peach slices and mint.
"I thought it would be nice to offer something as a cocktail for the 150th anniversary using $15 as a point," Scott Jordan, restaurant manager, said.
A special four-course prix fixe dinner also is on the menu for $40, not including tax and tip.
"We generally pick things that we think have the profile our guests are looking for specifically," Jordan said. "Certain items are very well-received here, so we kind of focus on that and we tweak them a little bit, add a different spin to the preparation."
For example, the pasta course features the restaurant's favorite four cheese ravioli spruced up with spring peas and crispy prosciutto in a Parmesan cream sauce.
For the first course, diners will enjoy a chopped salad of romaine, radicchio, pepperoncini, provolone, salami, olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, artichokes and garbanzo beans with a red wine vinaigrette.
The fish course features pan roasted salmon with asparagus, farro, cherry tomatoes and a lemon butter sauce. Apple bread pudding served with glazed walnuts, vanilla gelato and caramel sauce offers a sweet finale to the meal.
Il Poggiolo enjoys supporting the community by being part of restaurant week and offering a more affordable price point, especially with inflation, Jordan said.
"We're just always excited to participate and be community minded and certainly support not only local businesses here, but make sure our guest enjoy their experiences here and have an opportunity to try something new that they normally wouldn't," he said.
Gutierrez shared similar motivations for Egg Harbor's participation.
"Just to be part of the community, be engaged with the community," he said.
Hinsdale Restaurant Week runs April 14-23. (See sidebar for list of participating restaurants.) Visit http://www.hinsdaledining.com for more information.
