Passover falls on Wednesday, April 8 this year -- smack dab in the middle of the work week, making it extra difficult to prepare an arduous holiday meal. Why not spend your seder on the town this year? Several local restaurants have put together Passover menus that keep tradition while keeping you out of the kitchen.
At Di Pescara in Northbrook, you can gather friends and family to dine in the welcoming restaurant for Passover, or you can bring the meal home to enjoy. The seder menu, which is available Wednesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 9, includes matzah ball soup, orchard salad, tomato-and-cucumber salad, roast beef brisket, roast chicken with fresh herbs, asparagus spears, potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce, glazed carrots, flourless chocolate cake, homemade macaroons and jelly candies. The dinner is priced at $29.95 per person (children under 12 are half price), and reservations or carryout orders can be placed by calling 847-498-4321. Di Pescara can also deliver the feast within five miles of the restaurant for an $8 delivery charge.
A lavish Passover seder buffet will be served at Maxwell's at the Club, the newish restaurant in the East Bank Club in River North. Passover dinner at the East Bank Club is an annual tradition for many families, and now that the club's restaurant is open to the public, even more people can join in. Maxwell's head chef Rick Hall and executive chef Mike Lodes collaborated on the seder buffet menu, which features several dishes made from family recipes. The spread will include matzah ball soup, gefilte fish, braised brisket of beef, chopped chicken livers with matzah, roasted asparagus and beet salad, roast rack of lamb, salmon with artichoke sauce, lamb meatballs with roasted eggplant sauce and grilled spiced tuna. Dessert selections will feature flourless chocolate cake, chocolate-dipped matzah and charoset, and kosher wines will be offered along with the meal. Also in keeping with custom, each table will receive a Haggadah so guests can read the Passover story of the Exodus. The seder buffet, which is $45 per person ($15 for children under 10) will be offered from 5:30-9:30PM on Wednesday, April 8.
You can opt to have your seder at Mity Nice Grill or carry out Passover dishes from foodlife, both located within Water Tower Place. Both dining destinations will offer a la carte items such as matzah ball soup ($4.95), potato pancakes ($2.95 each), gefilte fish with beet horseradish ($3.95), chopped liver ($3.95), sweet & sour brisket ($12.95 for lunch, $16.95 for dinner), herb-roasted chicken ($11.95-$14.95), almond & matzah-crusted whitefish ($13.95-$17.95), flourless chocolate cake ($4.95) and cheesecake with strawberries ($3.95). Advance carryout orders can be made through Mity Nice Grill (312-335-4745).
