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Living salads on the menu at Hilton in Chicago area

Living salads are the new order of the day at the farm-to-table restaurant called B. at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center.

Executive Chef Sean Curry has designed a menu that ranges from hearty soups and house honey infusions to a multi-sensory twist on salads.

Kale and roasted faro living salad
Kale and roasted faro living salad

Earlier this fall, Curry forged a partnership with Living Waters Farm in Strawn, Illinois after touring their greenhouses full of succulent micro-greens. With growing season nearing its end, Curry envisioned a way to bring fresh, local greens to B. guests throughout the year. He would serve them salads that are still living.

“We’re bringing customers the whole plant, from root to stem, alive and growing in the water bowl,” said Curry, who offers four different types of micro-greens at his restaurant. “In addition to a second mixing bowl with all the recipe accoutrements, we give them a small pair of scissors and a set of tweezers and literally let them make their own salad right from the source.”

The Augustus living salad
The Augustus living salad

Among the lineup of Living Salads (all US$10 or under) on the menu:

B. Autumn – B. Honey squash vinaigrette, pickled squash, pepper lettuce, pepitas

Augustus – Bibb, creamy garlic dressing, honey crumble, shaved Romaina cheese

Kale & Roasted Faro – dried cherry, bacon vinaigrette, pollen, radish

Sherman – Tatsoi, honey ginger vinaigrette, sweet drop pepper, roasted bok choy, oven roasted Asian pear

Another B. signature that appears in nearly half of the new winter menu is house-harvested honey. Curry, a certified beekeeper, mixes his kinship with bees with his gastronomic process a B. – a concept he refers to as “Hive to Plate.” On property, Curry tends to nine large beehives with up to a half million honeybees that pollinate his gardens and produce fresh honey he harvests to flavor dishes such as brie pizza, Slagel Farm lamb chops, and more.

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