Prairie Grass Cafe's Spotlight Series

Relationship Driven Food

In this series you'll meet some of the people, businesses, traditions, and values that are at the core of who we are as a restaurant.

In the restaurant industry, it's easy to highlight our big successes, awards and fundraisers, but we want to take a moment each month to showcase an important piece of who we are. We are excited to share this with you, and for you to get to know us a little bit better!

Spotlight on Bennison's Bakery

Jory Downer of Bennison's Bakery

Bennison's Bakery has been a North Shore staple since 1938. If the longevity of the business doesn't sing their praises highly enough, they have the accolades to back up their product. Jory Downer, the owner, won the grand prize at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris in 2005, establishing himself as one of the best bakers in the world. Jory's son Guy Jr. joined the family business in 2009 as the third generation of Downers at Bennison's bakery.

Bennison's has been delivering bread daily to Prairie Grass since October of 2004 (that's over 20 years!). We serve their baguette proudly in our Burrata Pugliese Salad, with our Baked Feta Cheese Appetizer and as a stand-alone starter. You can often spot the employees, managers and chefs snacking on the irresistible bread.

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Creamy Mushroom Toast to Make at Home

A great way to elevate any recipe is to use high quality products like Bennison's baguettes. Head to Bennison's in Evanston after picking up some Four Star Mushrooms at Mariano's and try out this creamy mushroom toast recipe.

Creamy Mushroom Toast Recipe

Supporting Local Artisans

Jory often works the overnight shift “hands on” to maintain the quality and integrity of his baked goods.

As prices have risen, we added a charge for the bread in order to keep supporting our fellow family-owned local businesses.

We know you can taste the quality, thought, and care put into the baguettes.