1/20/2024 0 Comments Fresh starts homewood“It was a very cold winter but all of a sudden people were driving from all over the Chicago area to come to Fresh Starts,” she recalls. Lindholm says the response to the show was immediate, and electric. The atmosphere is warm, friendly and romantic.” “Located in downtown Flossmoor, Fresh Starts offers a mix of tasty dishes with freshly prepared ingredients,” the show’s website states.” A fantastic selection of seafood dishes, pastas, unique salads and seasonal specials. In January, 2014, Fresh Starts received a glowing review from “Check Please,” WTTW-Channel 11’s dining program. That arrangement, she says, has allowed her to “have a life outside the restaurant” and provides valuable time in which she and her husband can see their grandchildren. For the past couple of years, it’s also been closed on Mondays. Food with lots of colors.”įresh Starts has never been open on Sundays. “I’ve done a lot of cooking through the years,” she says. Not long ago, she was down a chef so took part in the line duties in the kitchen. Lindholm has taken part in every facet of the restaurant’s operations. They went off to college, came back, got jobs and started families and now they have kids who are the same age as their parents when they worked at Fresh Starts.” “There were kids who worked in the kitchen in the 1980s when they were students at H-F. What’s more, Lindholm can point to Fresh Start staff members from its earliest days who now return to the restaurant. A number of staff members – both in the kitchen and “the front of the house” – have worked at Fresh Starts for more than a dozen years. Many customers have faithfully come to Fresh Starts since that change. “We also got requests from people who wanted to have lunch in a restaurant.”Īlso, it made more financial sense to turn Fresh Starts into a restaurant. “People kept asking, ‘If you have food that is this good, why can’t we sit down and eat it here?’” Lindholm said. The current restaurant has a back room but that space was originally part of the bakery. Today, there is room for 60 diners but the original restaurant was smaller. But this was in 1986.”įresh Starts became a restaurant in 1989. “Today, there are lots of groceries that sell high-end prepared food. “She had an idea that was ahead of its time,” she says. Joanne gives credit to her former partner Jeanne McInerney for coming up with the idea for Fresh Starts. There were a few tables where customers could eat muffins or scones for breakfast. There were multiple varieties of salads, cheeses, and gourmet canned goods. Otherwise, the walls were lined with refrigerated cases filled with prepared food items. The expresso area – now the Fresh Starts bar – is the only element of the original operation that remains today. Her background was in sales, personnel work and the secretarial field.įresh Starts originally opened as a gourmet food shop, and included an expresso bar and bakery. But she had no experience in the restaurant business. When Fresh Starts made its debut in September 1986, Lindholm considered herself a “foodie,” and someone who liked to cook. She plans to host regular cooking classes at the restaurant. ![]() She talks about writing a cookbook with recipes from Fresh Starts. Served cold, it was a big hit in the 1980s.Īfter 30 years, Lindholm shows no sign of slowing down. One such item is the garden pizza – broccoli, cauliflower and spinach on a 16-inch crust with mozzarella and mayonnaise. Lindholm is planning a throwback menu with entrees from Fresh Start’s earliest days. The anniversary will also feature happy hours with wine and cheese tasting and bourbon flights. With the new hours, a bar menu will be available between lunch and dinner. For years, the restaurant has been open for lunch, but closed between 3 and 4:30 p.m. 9, Fresh Starts will be open Tuesday through Saturday between 11 a.m. in Flossmoor.Īs next month’s 30th anniversary nears, Fresh Starts is expanding its hours. ![]() It has won numerous dining awards and remains a cornerstone of Flossmoor’s downtown area.įresh Starts is located at 1040 Sterling Ave. Today, Fresh Starts is recognized as one of the premier dining establishments in Chicago’s south suburban region. I love this restaurant and I love doing this.” “People ask me how I can do this for so long,” says Lindholm, the restaurant’s longtime owner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |