Freekeh’s the new quinoa, and it’s on the menu at Lincoln Square’s just-opened Warbler. Don’t hold it against them.
LINCOLN SQUARE — The team behind Lincoln Square’s popular Gather restaurant have doubled down on the neighborhood with The Warbler, debuting Jan. 23, next door to its 5-year-old sibling.
The Warbler’s kitchen provides Ken Carter with a much bigger sandbox to play in, and the chef, who trained under Charlie Trotter, has had a field day.
Where Gather’s menu lists a single pasta option, The Warbler’s menu has six, plus a full complement of salads, flatbreads, appetizers, entrees and an entire section devoted to vegetables.
“It’s how I like to cook,” said Carter. “I just love vegetables, I just love pasta. Now we have the infrastructure to do all house-made pastas.”
Among his personal favorites on the menu are the freekeh salad, freekeh being a grain foodies have dubbed “the new quinoa;” roasted carrots, with carrot hummus, dried dates, crispy chickpeas and a pistachio dukkah spice mix; and Korean-style chicken wings with tamari glaze and sesame seeds.
“The technique and the skill is at a very high level, but we don’t want people to be intimidated,” Breo said.
The Warbler,4535 N. Lincoln Ave., is open daily at 4:30 p.m. for dinner. Look for weekend brunch to be added in the spring.
