With what you might call rural sprawl, the team behind the two Farmhouses plans to spread its seed to Farm Bar (1300 W. Wellington Ave., no phone yet), a 60-seat restaurant and bar in the neighborhood-corner space that last housed Wellington’s.
The newly christened restaurant group Farm Heads will entrust Farm Bar’s kitchen to chef Eric Mansavage, also the chef of both Farmhouses, practicing the same from-scratch, “four-state” philosophy, seeking to source as many ingredients as possible from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Mansavage plans heavy appetizers such as poutine and pierogi to accompany sandwiches, including burgers to evoke each of the four states in the so-named philosophy:
- Indiana Barnyard Burger: with pulled pork, a farm egg, and beer mustard
- Illinois Three Sisters Burger: topped with a 10-bean relish and marinated zucchini, to start. “We will change with the seasons,” Mansavage says.
- Michigan Harvest Burger: sour cherry jam, caramelized onion, goat cheese, and baby arugula
- Wisconsin Lamb Burger: the "Trippel," with three melted Wisconsin cheeses, applewood-smoked bacon, and pickled cranberries
They aim to open in September. Seeing as summer’s bounty peaks right around then, even the target date suggests farm bona fides.