Right Bite

Right Bite restaurants receive twice-yearly staff training on seafood issues provided by Shedd experts. The restaurants pledge to offer at least one sustainable seafood dish at all times and, if applicable, to permanently remove at least one unsustainable choice from their menus. Shedd Aquarium is committed to helping our partners find and offer the highest quality and most environmentally friendly seafood available. Our restaurant 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.

Our 2009 Right Bite partners: 

NAHA
If you're a foodie, you likely know of 2008 James Beard Award winner Carrie Nahabedian. Chef Carrie and her brother, Michael, are the owner/operators of NAHA, a top Chicago restaurant and local icon for Chicago’s sustainability movement. Chef Carrie is a board member of the Green City Market and NAHA is an original Right Bite partner. NAHA's menu features sustainable choices such as wild striped bass, lake whitefish and one of the Right Bite team's favorites, arctic char.

Oceanique
Zagat has ranked Oceanique as the premier seafood restaurant in he Chicago area, so we were determined to add this local favorite to the Right Bite partner roster. Lucky for us and for our oceans, Chef Mark Grosz is passionate about seafood and healthy fisheries. Oceanique regularly features such sustainable delights as arctic char, farmed American sturgeon caviar and shrimp sourced from Laughing Bird farm, which has been recognized for its innovative and environmentally responsible practices.

Parkers’ Ocean Grill
When the Right Bite team set out to recruit Chicago’s most talented and enthusiastic chefs, we struck gold when we found Chef Patrick McLaughlin at Parkers' Ocean Grill. Parkers' has been a Right Bite restaurant partner from the very beginning and is a crowd favorite among the restaurants that host the annual Right Bite dnner series. Chef Patrick delights us and inspires others when he recounts how the Right Bite program literally has changed his life. After becoming aware of the issues surrounding seafood, Chef Patrick’s interest and fascination with the ocean grew. He has since earned his scuba certification and now spends much of his vacation time exploring the undersea world. Parkers' menu offers so many sustainable choices that it’s tough to pick a favorite, but Michelle Jost, Shedd’s director of sustainable practices, recommends wild Alaska halibut, "wood roasted, please."

Prairie Grass Cafe
Shedd is thrilled to count Prairie Grass Cafe among its newest restaurant partners. Headed by the James Beard Award-winning chef Sarah Stegner, Prairie Grass Cafe features delicious and sustainable entrees like sautéed whitefish and tilapia fish and chips. Be sure to save room for dessert as well! Prairie Grass Cafe features homemade pies by Chef Sarah’s mom, Elizabeth Stegner.

Shaw’s Crab House
Shaw's Crab House (in Chicago and Schaumburg) are original Right Bite restaurants, joining as partners more than three years ago. Shaw’s has a long history of supporting local farmers and offers a variety of seafood on their menus, so offering sustainable seafood was a natural choice for these Chicago-area dining legends. Shaw’s goes above and beyond the parameters of a Right Bite partnership. In addition to menus that feature Marine Stewardship Council-certified wild Alaska king salmon and Pacific halibut, both Shaw's support many important Great Lakes conservation initiatives. Shaw’s Chicago has hosted several Right Bite dinners and has led fun cooking demonstrations at the aquarium for our guests and members — perhaps none more memorable than the lessons on how to shuck and slurp oysters at our annual members open house. As two of Shedd's earliest restaurant partners, Shaws’ enthusiasm for Right Bite energized the aquarium's efforts to reach out to the culinary world. And Shaws' clam chowder is the best, according to Michelle Jost, Shedd's director of sustainable practices and a Boston native who knows about these things.

Va Pensiero
The next time you’re in Evanston, be sure to stop by Va Pensiero for some sustainable seafood with an Italian twist! Chef Jeff Muldrow offers mouthwatering dishes like saffron-infused linguini with bay scallops, white wine, garlic and dandelion greens.

Wildfire
With Wildfire's five Chicago-area locations (Chicago, Oakbrook, Lincolnshire, Shaumburg, and Glenview), a sustainable seafood dish is easily within reach. Try Wildfire's Tuesday night rainbow trout special or its seasonal Alaskan halibut, which Chef Joe Decker claims is so tasty that it has its own devoted fanbase - Right Bite team included! Also look for Wildfire at this year's BLU celebration on July 25, where it will be offering guests tasty treats.

Need more information about the Right Bite restaurant program? Just e-mail us at rightbite@sheddaquarium.org.