Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Arts and Words Food and Drink Music

This native Chicagoan glams up Irish classics with haute flair.

Wednesday Mar 14, 2007.     By Michael Nagrant

Who's Who Feed

Jeanne Carlson, a native Chicagoan, has trained and worked here her whole life. Her mom hated to cook, so Carlson took the home culinary reins and got a job part-time job at a bakery in high school. That's when her love for cooking bloomed.

Carlson's done time at the now-defunct Chicago restaurant Blue Stem, Food for Thought Catering and as a chocolatier at the Piron in Evanston. She now plies her trade at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro located at 3905 N. Lincoln Avenue in a former funeral parlor built in the 1920s. The brainchild of Jim Murphy (owner of Wrigleyville fave Murphy's), this restaurant ain't your typical corned beef and cabbage joint.

Carlson glams up classics like shepherds pie with braised lamb, leeks and roasted garlic mashed potatoes and crusts rainbow trout with oats, demonstrating that Irish cuisine, while hearty, can also be haute.

What do you wish you could change/pickle and preserve about the Chicago restaurant scene?
What I love about the restaurant scene is the variety and diversity. I think you could literally sample food from every country in the world without leaving the Chicago area. I love ethnic food, so I'm glad I can have Korean/Indian/Polish/etc. whenever I want. I think it is important to preserve these types of places so that corporate chains and restaurant groups don't take over.

What would your last meal be?
Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream and jalapeno cheeseburgers from White Castle.

Where do you eat before/after a shift?
Where I eat is dictated by budget, so I usually go for tacos or a torta from local Mexican joints.

What's the can't-miss dish at your restaurant?
The bread pudding and beef and Guinness stew are the two most popular, but my favorite is the oat-crusted rainbow trout stuffed with bacon and caramelized onions.

What should we know about your restaurant that we probably don't?
That we have an awesome brunch and an amazing beer list!

(Editors note: Indeed, there's a nice selection of domestic microbrews from locals such as Three Floyds and Goose Island, as well as an extensive list of Irish, British Scottish, German and Belgian brews, including a unique Wostyntje, or "mustard beer," which is brewed with mustard seed.)