Artisanal Wilmette

Daily Offerings

Marsha Pesavento — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:59:02 +0000

Daily Offerings…

Artisanal’s Original Chicken Salad: $8.99/lb

Ortiz Tuna Salad: $11.99/lb

Egg Salad: $5.99/lb

Mayo-Free Potato Salad: $6.99/lb

Vegan Grain Salad (rotating with seasonal grains and vegetables): $6.59/lb

Roasted Vegetables (seasonal selections): $6.99/lb

Meatballs in Marinara: $8.99/lb

House Made Meatloaf: $9.99/each

Rotating Selection of Soups: $4.99/Pint $8.99/Quart

Turkey Sandwich: country white bread, lemon basil mayo, swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion $7.00

Roast Beef Sandwich: sourdough, horseradish mayo, Dijon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion $7.50

Ham Sandwich: seeded rye, honey Dijon, caramelized onions, swiss $7.00

Vegetarian Panini: soft hoagie, Dijon, olive and pepper tapanade, fresh basil, roasted tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, havarti, provolone $6.50

Meatball Grinder: soft hoagie, marinara sauce, 2 house made meatballs, provolone cheese $7.00

**Special items will be offered on a rotating basis. Please call or stop in to see what we have!**

It’s time

Marsha Pesavento — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 04:28:26 +0000

Please join us while we take our first baby steps. We’ll be softly opening our doors tomorrow, September 7th, 2012 at noon to welcome you so that you can see what we’ve done so far. It’s just a beginning as we learn how to grow into becoming what you would like us to be. We’ll be open until 7 pm, and then will re-open on Saturday morning at 8. Deep breath here…

Here’s what Artisanal looked like today

Marsha Pesavento — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 03:45:10 +0000

Just a little bit longer.

The sweetest nectarine

Marsha Pesavento — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 04:29:46 +0000

Have you ever had a really memorable taste from something that was so simple and also so perfect? I remember one hot day, a July 4th about 30 plus years ago, drifting on a sailboat with no wind to move us, dragonflies everywhere, full sun, and biting into a peach that was so perfectly ripe and sweet and full of juice. I had a nectarine like that tonight. I’d forgotten it in the fruit drawer and found it with some early apples…a kind of yin/yang for this part of summer. It was a day away from too ripe, so in my mind, perfect. I’d wished it was from Michigan, but it came from Washington State, which had a great growing season this summer for fruit. Here, in the Midwest, our fruit hasn’t fared quite as well. There has been some good fruit that thrived this killer summer, but mostly our local fruit really took a hit.

I worry about the cost of the food we’ll carry in our store, that it might seem too expensive, but I promise I’ll try to have something for everyone. Thinking about how “you can please some of the people some of the time…” It’s getting really close now.

Interviewing

Marsha Pesavento — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:03:46 +0000

Just to let you know…we’re starting to interview for part time help!! Looking for cashiers, help in the butcher department, grocery, produce, kitchen…planning to actually open, really and truly, sometime the second half of August (no date yet, but definitely August).

Applications are in the “contact us” section of the website. (One of the requirements is that you’re able to figure out how to get your resume through to us.)

Looking forward to meeting you.

Progress.

Marsha Pesavento — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 01:57:49 +0000

Ray told me I shouldn’t comment about this freakish heat OR suggest that the sky is falling, so I won’t. Instead I’ll just post a few pictures of what’s going on behind the paper in the windows at 414 Linden Avenue:

We’re getting somewhere.

The dreams that you dare to dream

Marsha Pesavento — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:27:03 +0000

Well, at least most of the flooring is in.The floors look really pretty. Except now the wood is covered in plywood and butcher paper because they’ve begun moving our equipment in. (I’ll post that photo another time–maybe tomorrow) The hold-up NOW is that we’re waiting on the tiling to get done in the kitchen and butcher areas, which we thought would be done by tomorrow so that the kitchen and butcher equipment could get moved in, but we found out that the tiling will NOT be done in time, so it looks like we’re going to be delayed another week and a half or so.

I was hoping to surprise you by telling you that we’d be opening around the 2nd week of August….but that’s looking a little doubtful now….maybe the 3rd or 4th week? Maybe if we all close our eyes tightly and wish for an August opening it will happen. (I happen to be listening to Oscar Peterson’s version of “Over the Rainbow” right now, so…) I mean, it could happen…right..?? I’m gonna hope for that anyway. Like seriously, really and truly hope. Sigh.

Still waiting…

Marsha Pesavento — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:05:56 +0000

Remember when I thought we’d be opening in May? Then in June? And here we are in July and still, things inside of the store don’t look all that dramatically different. I know posting that photo of the Happy Room mural was a cruel tease that we were really on our way, what happened just before the mural was painted was this:Looks sort of sacrificial, doesn’t it? I started composing a blog when I found out about it–the need for connecting a condensate pipe from the freezer directly to the main sewer line as required “by code”, but that essay turned out to be a little too angry and I thought it best to step aside of the anger and allow myself to breathe a little. I mean what’s a little 2-3 week, $15,000 set-back, right? No more anger. Now when we step inside our space, I just cast one of those aside glances at that crucifix looking hole in the ground and look, instead at…the new speaker wires in the ceiling and the new plumbing connections and try to practice some more creative visualization (remember that fad?).

We’re going through the inspection phase right now, now that the weeks have passed during which our plans were reviewed by all the corresponding departments. Last week we passed on everything except the projects our contractor was not responsible for. While not wanting to cast stones, the contractor-from hell hired by Someone Else (aka “the Wizard”), who was responsible for a months long delay for not showing up on the job, or showing up, but not actually working on anything and then leaving for 5-10 days at a time, after presumably finishing his job, it was found to be incomplete, built against code, using inferior and incompatible parts, etc. He promised he’d finish his job today (he also said that yesterday, just sayin’) and the inspector is due tomorrow morning, so maybe I’ll be able to post something positive tomorrow. We’ll see. Hmm.

Meanwhile, we had the area behind the store re-graded and the foundation for the new walk-in poured! That’s a step in the right direction.

So now, instead of a walk-in lined in mold, as was the previous store’s (how did people who shopped there not get violently ill? it’s a mystery), and instead of the store getting flooded from the back door whenever it rains, as happened in the previous store, we’ll have a space that’s clean with food untainted by mold! What a concept…

And the awning and sign went up last week! Also, the sign is back-lit at night and looks pretty darned gorgeous. Wish I could get a good shot of that, but you’re just going to have to do a drive-by to check it out yourself.

I hope to report good news very, very soon. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. Because once we pass all of our inspections, it’s gonna go fast. We’ll see. Happy Birthday, America. Have a safe 4th.

As promised

Marsha Pesavento — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:53:50 +0000

Yesterday was hugely exciting. We had a slight delay (nothing new there) with the Happy Room mural getting painted, but the wonderful, talented Debbie Cerone (www.CeroneDesigns.com) spent the day creating a scene that, until yesterday plagued my mind and she nailed it! Here it is:

I ask you, could it be any more perfect? I don’t think so.

Staying in the Moment

Marsha Pesavento — Sun, 27 May 2012 04:03:24 +0000

It’s hard not to be impatient at this point. We’ve been waiting for what seems like sooo long to get open and I was going to post more photos, but, unfortunately, they’d just look a lot like the last batch I posted. The changes are visually subtle, primarily electric infrastructure which is progressing, but oh-so-slowly. But if I look closely, I’ll find conduit where previously there was none, boxes for outlets are finally appearing, stuff like that. So I know there is progress being made. Slowly, slowly. I’m trying to unclench these involuntary fists and breathe.

We had such a great day today. Stopped by the Green City Market where we found our friends from JDY roasting and serving up some amazing porchetta sandwiches made with distinctly delicious Becker Lane organic pork. Crisp, crackling skin that protected moist, sweet pastured pork meat–yummmm. Even got to meet the Beckers! Knowing the people who are behind the food we’re going to be selling is so deeply moving to me. (I know how sappy that sounds, but it’s legit.) That these folks not only stand behind their products, but that they’re preparing their products with so much integrity from start to finish is a beautiful thing. Can the folks who make Vienna hot dogs do that? Describe the animals, how and where they were raised, what they were fed, how they were processed before being made into hot dogs?

Tonight we stopped in at Nite Market which was held at the Chicago ReBuilder’s Exchange (perfect venue). Got a chance to meet Jeff Valentino, maker of Valentino Pasta which is GREAT! Cooked some up when we got home and, oh, what a relief—-Ray and I were each silently worried the whole ride home that it might not be wonderful, after meeting Jeff, who was charming, who’s just starting to make it after leaving his previous career (a common story among so many of the food artisans we’ll be representing) and then, the potential for awkward silence after trying the new product. Like meeting that really nice guy who you get to be what you thought was “just friends” with, and then they confess they have a crush on you and you’ve got to let them know you only like them as a brother—a crushing blow. But, Jeff, we Really Like your pasta!! A lot!!! So it’s a match!

I know I’ve said it before, but I just can’t wait for everyone to taste what we’ve been tasting. Trying to live in the moment, but it’s so dang hard. I’m un-clenching my fists now.

And I wish I could give you an opening date, but I can’t. The current refrain is “about 6 weeks or so.” That’s the best I can give you. I promise that behind that white paper in the windows, there actually is dust being kicked up in the space. On Friday, a Chicago-area artist will be painting a small mural in The Happy Room. I will post a photo when it’s done, after I get back from Houston where my niece just gave birth to her baby boy, Carson Maddox. A Year of the Water Dragon baby! Like Artisanal!! It is truly an auspicious year.

Til then, enjoy the long weekend.