Conservation
Right Bite Partners
Shedd is proud to partner with Chicago-area restaurants, retailers, caterers, purveyors and culinary schools to build demand for sustainable seafood in our marketplace. Right Bite partners receive staff training on seafood issues provided by Shedd experts. They also pledge to offer at least two sustainable seafood options at all times and, if applicable, to permanently remove at least one unsustainable choice from their menus or product inventories. Shedd is committed to helping our partners find and promote the highest quality and most environmentally friendly seafood available. Our partners know that we mean business when it comes to sustainable seafood, but equally as important, our partners know that we care about their business.
Are you a chef, retailer, or culinary instructor interested in joining our Right Bite program? E-mail rightbite@sheddaquarium.org for more information.
Restaurants
Cape Cod Room
Since 1933, this classic Chicago restaurant located in the Drake Hotel has seen the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe. The famous duo carved their initials on the bar, making it a city landmark. Make your legacy by choosing Cape Cod’s sustainable seafood menu. For classy ocean-friendly eats, Shedd recommends Oysters Rockefeller.
Big Jones
In the mood for Southern cuisine? Check out Big Jones, where executive chef Paul Fehribach delights diners with domestic crawfish boudin fritters and sustainably harvested American red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico. Being total food lovers at heart, the Right Bite team also loves the heirloom peas.
Fish Bar
From the same team that brought us MK Restaurant and DMK Burger comes this cozy, new seafood joint in Lakeview. The menu offerings range from steamed mussels to Maine lobster rolls, and the staff is one of the friendliest in the city. Check out Fish Bar's website, which provides a list of sustainable wild-caught and farmed offerings.
Girl and the Goat
After becoming the only woman (to date) to win Top Chef, Stephanie Izard opened Girl and the Goat in 2010. The restaurant has received outstanding local and national reviews, making it on every "to-do list" for Chicago natives and visitors alike. The Right Bite team is pumped to call Girl and the Goat a partner!
L. Woods
Whenever Brooke, sustainable seafood educator, stops by L.Woods, she is at home in her native state of Wisconsin. The lodge inspired décor and local eats, like trap-net caught lake whitefish and fried yellow perch, will make you feel right at home too. If you have room, order the baked mac & cheese. You will not be disappointed.
Luxbar
Luxbar’s stunning two-story restaurant and bar in the Gold Coast neighborhood is well-known for a culinary oxymoron, elegance & bar food. The Right Bite team loves meeting friends at Luxbar for a cocktail, good conversation and macadamia-crusted tilapia. Mmm!
NAHA
If you're a foodie, you likely know of 2008 James Beard Award winner Carrie Nahabedian. She’s the owner of NAHA, a top Chicago restaurant and local icon for Chicago’s sustainability movement. NAHA's menu features sustainable choices like striped bass, lake whitefish and a Right Bite team favorite, arctic char.
Oceanique
ZAGAT ranks Oceanique as the premier seafood restaurant in the Chicago area. Lucky for us and our oceans, owner and executive chef Mark Grosz is just as passionate about healthy fisheries as his tasty entrees. Try one of Oceanique’s sustainable recipes at home: crispy fish ’n chips with parsley aioli.
Prairie Grass Cafe
Sarah Stegner, the James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Prairie Grass Cafe, learned firsthand about sustainable seafood after spending time with fishermen on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Her passion for education inspired her to team up with Right Bite to teach kids how to cook ocean-friendly seafood. Click here to read an Edible Chicago article that features Chef Sarah and the Right Bite team discussing sustainable seafood.
Rhapsody
When former Right Bite partner, Chef Dean Zanella joined downtown’s Rhapsody, one of his first steps was to partner with Shedd. The restaurant boasts a charming farm-to-table experience, while offering sustainable seafood offerings like oven-roasted pacific halibut. The Right Bite team hopes Chef Dean keeps on making music at Rhapsody!
Shaw’s Crab House (in Chicago and Schaumburg)
Right Bite has many fond memories of Shaw’s Crab House. It’s where Kassia Perpich, sustainable seafood manager, learned how to slurp oysters. It’s also where Michelle Jost, director of sustainable practices, goes to enjoy a bowl of her favorite clam chowder. Ask your server to see Shaw’s sustainable seafood menu!
Soundings Café
Shedd’s Soundings Café proudly features daily sustainable seafood specials. Aquarium guests and Shedd staff alike enjoy barramundi in ginger cream sauce, mussels with linguine and other delicious dishes. The Right Bite team works closely with Soundings staff to answer any guest’s sustainability questions in a friendly, informative way.
Uncommon Ground (on North Clark Street and West Devon Avenue)
Uncommon Ground is a favorite hangout of the Right Bite team and was voted as the “Greenest Restaurant in America” in 2011. We love relaxing on the rooftop garden whenever we can! Plus, offering dishes like crispy catfish tacos and grilled Rushing Waters trout, we recommend that a visit is not an uncommon occurrence.
Wildfire (in Chicago, Oakbrook, Lincolnshire, Schaumburg and Glenview)
Wildfire’s executive chef partner, Joe Decker, insists that the macadamia nut-crusted Alaska halibut has its own devoted fan base. After one bite, the Right Bite team definitely understood why. With Wildfire's five Chicago-area locations, this delicious and sustainable entree is easily within reach.
Retailers
City Provisions Delicatessen
A new favorite hangout of the Right Bite team, City Provisions Delicatessen truly walks the talk when it comes to sustainable seafood. Try the tuna salad, made with pole-caught albacore tuna from the U.S. Pacific, or the Rushing Waters “TLT” – smoked rainbow trout paired with tomatoes, arugula and horseradish cream.
Dirk’s Fish & Gourmet Shop
Dirk Fucik, owner of Dirk’s Fish & Gourmet Shop, is one of the friendliest fishmongers in Chicago. When visiting, you’ll find the Right Bite team’s favorite scallop and roasted tomato soup, but you won’t find shark, eel, bluefin tuna, or orange roughy. Dirk no longer sells them due to environmental concerns.
Lemon Tree Grocer
If you are dashing to the train in Downers Grove, stop by Lemon Tree Grocer. Not only do they offer local, sustainable produce, meat and cheese, but they recently partnered with Shedd to add more sustainable seafood choices. If the train is delayed, sit down at Lemon Tree’s Zest Café for seared Alaskan halibut or yummy roasted beets!
Peapod LLC
Shopping for sustainable seafood is a breeze thanks to Shedd’s partnership with Peapod LLC, the country’s leading online grocer. Shoppers can type “Shedd approved” into Peapod’s search field to be taken to a virtual grocery “aisle” featuring sustainable seafood products selected by the Right Bite team.
Whole Foods Market
With a Whole Foods Market located just a few blocks from Shedd, the Right Bite team often shops there to satisfy our cravings and hang out with the friendly seafood staff! We’re also excited that Whole Foods Market supports our Fish of the Month initiative.
Caterers
City Provisions
The Right Bite team first met City Provisions owner Cleetus Friedman at one of his delicious supper clubs. After spending just five minutes with Cleetus, his passion for sustainability was obvious. Hear Cleetus and the Right Bite team enthusiastically chat about sustainable seafood in the Chicago Public Radio segment, Eating Sustainable Seafood in Chicago.
Food for Thought
We suspected that the food service provider for the Adler Planetarium, Food for Thought, was out of this world. Our suspicions proved correct! Try one of Executive Chef Chris Opper’s delicious and sustainable recipes, aji panca pan-fried farm-raised catfish with yellow tomato and sweet potato.
Purveyors
Fortune Fish Company
In 2007, Fortune Fish Company launched its sustainability initiative in partnership with Shedd. The company highlights a sustainable seafood every two months. For every pound of that fish sold, Fortune donates a portion of the revenue to not-for-profit conservation organizations. Fortune is also a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified purveyor.
Supreme Lobster
Kassia Perpich, sustainable seafood manager, insists her workday isn’t complete without a call from Supreme Lobster sales rep Carl Galvan (a.k.a. Chicago Fish Dude), who is full of great ideas for promoting sustainability. Check out Carl and the Right Bite team in this recent podcast about seafood in Chicago.
Culinary Schools
Chicago Public Schools – Culinary and Hospitality Arts Program
College of Lake County
Illinois Institute of Art
Illinois Restaurant Association’s ProStart Program
Kendall College
Greater Chicago Food Depository – Chicago’s Community Kitchens
Lexington College
Robert Morris University
Other Friends
61st Street Farmers Market, Andersonville Farmers Market, Aquaranch, Big Fish Farms, Chefs Collaborative, Chicago's Downtown Farmstand, ChicaGourmets, Common Threads, Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions, Glenview Farmers Market, Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition, Green City Market, Growing Power, Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance, Humboldt Park Farmers Market, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Minnesota Zoo’s Fish Smart, Notre Dame Food Services, Purple Asparagus, Rushing Waters Trout Farm, Slow Food Chicago, Wisconsin Restaurant Association
Right Bite dinner
Calling all foodies! Every other month, Shedd holds a Right Bite sustainable seafood dinner at one of our partner restaurants. Learn more and make your reservation for the next delicious evening.
