A Classy Venue: North Pond Cafe

 

The North Pond Cafe is an awesome restaurant that I, unfortunately, don't visit enough. The menu is a foodie dream comprised of some of the freshest ingredients that you'll ever taste - primarily grown at farms throughout the tri-state area. Their web site states it better than I could:

The menu at North Pond is designed to feature products raised or grown in their native environment and offered at their seasonal peak. We seek out farmers, producers and other artisans who take special care with their chosen craft, and can offer us exceptional products just recently harvested. We then work to highlight the special character of these ingredients, choosing preparations and pairings meant to accentuate their unparalleled flavor.

In addition to being delicious, North Pond is also incredibly adorable. The space is a beautiful Arts and Crafts building that provides a tasteful nod to the Chicago area's Frank Lloyd Wright history. And its Lincoln Park location is to die for - check out the views:

North Pond was the second place that I called after Andy and I were engaged. I used to live two blocks from NP and would often sit in the park reading and thinking about how pretty a wedding would be there. A pond-side ceremony** overlooking the skyline would be so romantic.

The venue IS available for weddings and special events, but as with most restaurants, you must meet their minimum food and beverage requirements. And I believe it only holds 100ish people - which was too small for us. I'm still dying to see a wedding there. It is truly a venue upon which to build your entire event - stationery, dresses, floral...I think that an inspiration board is in order in the next day or so.

All North Pond photos from http://www.northpondrestaurant.com

I recently had a conversation with a friend and fellow blogger who commented that Chicago was pretty weak in terms of weddings. She feels that all local weddings were either Catholic masses followed by Michigan Avenue Hotel Receptions or Catholic masses followed by Loft Receptions. I can't argue the Catholic mass thing, as being a local raised on the South Side, I knew exactly three non-Catholic people until I went to college (and all three of them went to the Catholic schools I attended). But I know that we've got more than the 'Mile and a few lofts! Does anyone have a cool place that they'd like to share? A DC bride getting married here in September will be getting married at Enoteca Roma, a restaurant/wine bar in Wicker Park with a kick-ass outdoor patio. A wedding at a neighborhood wine bar? Sign me up for that!

**The North Pond is also a stone's throw from quite a few local churches:

• Catholic: St. Clement Church (I am still bummed that we could not get married there, as it is my favorite of all of the churches that I have attended.) and St. Vincent dePaul
  
• Lutheran: St. James Lutheran Church
• Methodist: Holy Convenant
  
• Non-Denominational: New Life. I think that this church is non-denom. It sounds like they're really just a bunch of people that love Jesus and rock out.
  
• Presbyterian: Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church
• United Church of Christ (UCC): Saint Pauls