North Pond

Okay, so technically you’re not eating outside, but when you’re only a few feet from a pond in the middle of Lincoln Park, you’re as close to nature as it gets in the city. Even more so when you sample chef Bruce Sherman’s latest creations, concocted with as much locally grown organic food as he can get his hands on. Sherman’s ever-changing offerings have included marrow-crusted charred flat iron steak with rutabaga-langue cake and rainbow chard and French horn mushroom floating in a porcini-madiera soup—perfectly lovely reminders of the time of year in case you can’t get a window table.