Aug. 01--Fortune cookies are the usual way to transmit predictions in Asian restaurants, but at the new Brightwok Kitchen in The Loop (21 E. Adams St., 312-583-0729), the message is spelled out boldly on the wall in chopsticks -- 14,000 of them to be exact. It reads: "The Future is Bright."
Jeremy Klaben, the founder and chief executive officer, and chef Kolter Livengood certainly hope for a bright future selling healthy stir-fries and salads that take a minute or so to prepare. The restaurant opens Saturday, Aug. 1.
Brightwok's premise is simple: Choose a stir-fry or salad and then customize. Select your protein (if you want one; all-vegetables are available, too), pick up to four vegetables from the seasonal list, then select your salad dressing or stir-fry sauce, from teriyaki to Thai basil to a lemon, miso and ginger blend. Prices range from $8 for an all-vegetable stir-fry to $10 for one made with steak. Salads are similarly priced.
Sides include steamed edamame, miso soup made with kale and banana chips tossed with a Korean barbecue spice blend. Drinks include hot or iced tea and coffee, an array of soft drinks, and Filbert's ginger beer.
Ingredients are sourced locally and the homemade sauces, which Livengood notes are all vegan and gluten-free, are prepped daily.
"I was thinking about how can we serve healthy and delicious food,'' say Klaben of the restaurant, which has been in the planning stages for three years. "We came up with the idea of using really bold Asian flavors, mainly Thai, Chinese and Japanese, to really bring out those flavors and also make healthy by using all those vegetables."
The restaurant, whose mantra is "Eat Right Live Bright," is open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The chopstick art -- the most eye-catching decoration in the simple but modern dining room -- is a nod at Brightwok Kitchen's proximity to the Art Institute of Chicago, Klaben says.
