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Tune into Menu Feed, a culinary-centered podcast hosted by Senior Editor Patricia Cobe. Menu Feed is produced in collaboration with FSD’s sister publication, Restaurant Business.

How community ties have kept an independent restaurant thriving

At Prairie Grass Cafe, a strong local connection has been key through the years and particularly in recent months.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

July 16, 2020

Chef Sarah Stegner opened Prairie Grass Cafe 15 years ago in Northbrook, Ill., establishing a deep local connection with customers and farmers. That connection—and an evolving, seasonally driven menu—have kept the independent restaurant going strong through the years and particularly during these challenging times. Listen as chef Stegner talks about the creative initiatives she and her team have launched and how her focus on taste recognition has solidified her restaurant’s identity.

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

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