Brunching Out: North Pond

Brunch is easily one of my favorite meals of the day, and when it’s done at a Michelin-star rated restaurant, even better!

My husband and I had an amazing weekend recently celebrating 365 days of marriage (AHH!). We both love eating–foodventuring is obviously the best type of adventuring–so our anniversary weekend was pretty much centered around good meals. On Saturday, we packed a picnic with sandwiches, a cheese plate and vino, and drove up to Evanston for a picnic at Northwestern University’s beautiful lakefill area. We’re both alums, and it’s where he proposed, so the campus is a very special place for us both. Picnicking was followed by a light al fresco Spanish meal at Salero and drinks at Kaiser Tiger, a really cool brewery with an awesome outdoor patio (and the prettiest fairy lights ever) in the West Loop.

Our favorite part of the entire weekend though was our Sunday Brunch at North Pond, the most beautiful, charming little restaurant with the most glorious view of Chicago’s skyline. We live in the Lakeview neighborhood, steps away from the restaurant, and have always been dying to make reservations there. We figured our anniversary weekend would be the perfect excuse to check out North Pond’s three course brunch. The menu changes based on seasonal ingredients and every dish is truly a work of art. I love meals where you can actually see the ingredients and feel the different textures and flavors. We had an incredible experience from start to finish and can’t wait to go back ASAP with out-of-towners. Make sure to request a table by the window if it’s a special occasion – the view of the pond is stuuuunning.

Personalized menu for our anniversary! +15 points (I’ll excuse the minor misspelling of my name) 

Warm crab crumb tomato, gulf shrimp, green and wax beans, cherry tomatoes, peach, almond

Great Lakes whitefish, herbed rice, nectarine preserves, broccoli, peanut sauce, carrots

My husband’s entree: Sauteed soft shell crab, corn pudding, charred kernels, watermelon, chorizo, pepper-tomatillo, mole

DESSERT! Fresh peaches, blackberries, lemon verbena panna cotta, hazelnut biscotti, peaches