Given the family business, it’s no surprise that Amy Morton has turned her talents to steak.
Daughter of Arnie Morton, founder of the Morton’s The Steakhouse chain of more than 70 steak restaurants in the U.S. and abroad, Amy Morton is owner and creator of Found Kitchen & Social House in Evanston. She has now added a carnivore option to her gastronomic offerings in The Barn, also in Evanston.
“Go figure that I had something I wanted to do around meat,” said Morton unapologetically.
Together with partner and director of operations of both locales, Stefen Bosworth, and executive chef Nicole Pederson, Morton chose a location that is, shall we say, obscure.
“We wanted it to be tricky to find but not frustrating,” confessed Morton.
“Our legal address is ‘Rear 1016 Church’…and we really fought for that,” said Morton. Her dream, she claims, has always been to build a restaurant in an alley, “Because I thought it was so unbelievably cool.”
That it is. The dramatic space in the rear of the address at 1016 Church Street is an actual barn, built in 1883 to house horses for the Borden Condensed Milk Company’s horse and buggy delivery service.
“Holy cow!” I said and was immediately corrected by Morton.
“No. Holy horse! It’s not been used since about 1915. It just loomed here,” said Morton incredulously.
Maybe it lay in wait to be Found owner’s new ‘rustic’ idyll — on an alley.
Potential Barn-food seekers would do well to heed the “rear” on the address. It is not an affectation.
Though the apertures have been bricked up, the stalls through which horses would put their heads to be fed remain, adding to the farm-ish ambience.
Inside, the scant 1800-square-foot space is deceptively large, with 21-foot ceilings and a converted (hay) loft, seating “just under 75.”
And whereas Found is grain and vegetable-focused, The Barn seeks to encompass the entire barn yard, serving meats from staples beef, poultry and fish, to wilder tastes of venison and buffalo.
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“Besides, (there was) the fact that we didn’t want to be a one-trick-pony and just cannibalize ourselves there,” is how Morton explains the departure. “The space was different and, of course, the food.”
There are only three steaks on the menu, ranging from $46.95-$48.95.
“It is not a steakhouse, per se,” said Morton, but, she adds, “We call ourselves meat-centric hideway.”
This space and the menu selections are a nod, according to Bosworth, to an era of traditional dining. “The kind of dining that we grew up with when we went out to a nice dinner and had to put on our little clip-on bow tie,” he explained.
Starters include the smooth, cooled tomato and onion tart with a cornmeal top-to-bottom crust ($7.95/slice) or Chef Peterson’s take on a traditional Caesar in the little gem (a type of lettuce) salad, assembled table-side and topped with the optional bacon bits or boqueron, an inoffensive little white anchovy palatable even to the most persnickety ($11.95).
The steaks are all prime heritage Angus. The 16-oz. ribeye is a portion built for two, presented perfectly rare with red wine demi-glace and marrow butter béarnaise ($48.95). Served with nutty butterball potatoes ($2.95).
Other selections include a juicy whole or half-chicken rubbed with za’atar, an aromatic Middle Eastern spice blend of thyme, sesame and sumac ($33.95), or the mild-but-substantial Bison bolognese with hand-dipped ricotta, red wine and warm spices ($22.95).
Try the understated hazelnut chocolate mousse for dessert, served with candied hazelnuts and a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream ($8).
“We have an elevated dining experience, certainly above what anybody else is doing around here in terms of the food, service and ambience, and we hope it feels like a great value,” said Morton.
Contact: (847) 868-8041 or see thebarnevanston.com
The Barn
Location: Rear, 1016 Church St., Evanston
Hours: 5-11p.m, Tuesday-Saturday; closed Sunday-Monday