Food

Bar bites add to customer experience at Chicago’s Bar Pastoral

Aptly named, bar bites are designed to pair perfectly with any beverage program. For Chicago’s Bar Pastoral, bar bites are a natural extension of the experience Chef Brooks Hart hopes to create for customers: a communal dining experience with an emphasis on non-traditional, quality ingredients. “Our bar bites are very product-driven,” he says. “We want to give guests the ability to sit down and share them at a table with everyone.”

A neighborhood bistro specializing in cheese and wine, Bar Pastoral’s bar bites menu includes shareable, flavorful items. Of course, each includes a cheese pairing—and for Hart, it’s the accompanying cheese that really completes each dish. “Our bar nuts are sugar and honey roasted, and we serve them with a prairie cheddar that gives it that sweet-and-salty flavor,” he says.

Making bar snacks shareable gives those menu items a sense of community—and it makes those items very popular. “Bar bites give people a chance to try something that they wouldn’t necessarily eat alone,” says Hart. “It’s fun to be able to sit down with everyone you’re eating with and have a great conversation. Sharing food adds to that experience in general.”

Menu Sampler: Bar Pastoral

  • Sweet and Spicy Almonds; $4
    Prairie Breeze (cow)
  • Marinated Olives; $6
    Herbs, manchego (sheep), citrus, garlic, chilies
  • Merguez Stuffed Apricots; $10
    Yogurt (cow), bacon, cilantro
  • Housemade Pretzel; $9
    Widmer’s 1yr Cheddar (cow) Cheese Ball, sliced Molinari salami, mustard

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