St. Charles welcomes yet another restaurant. Prasino opened its doors yesterday at 1520 S. Fifth St., next to recently opened churrascaria chain Tucanos Brazilian Grill. Prasino, which means “green” in Greek, is based on a concept of sustainable dining, which encompasses local sourcing, green design and eco-friendly kitchen practices. This is the fourth Prasino location; the others are all located in Illinois, including Chicago, La Grange and Rosemont.

The restaurant offers a contemporary, farm-to-table American menu created by the company’s executive chef Jared Case. However, Case explained that Tony Marchetto, executive chef at the St. Charles location, will have many opportunities to put his own mark on the menu. For instance, today’s soup special of ginger sweet potato with a five-spice scented pork dumpling (pictured) is Marchetto’s brainchild. Marchetto hails from BC’s Kitchen; prior to that, he worked in the kitchen at sister restaurant Cardwell’s at the Plaza.

Although the menu is similar to menus at other Prasino locations, local ingredients as well as St. Louis’ own food culture will lend elements of distinction to the fare. The barbecued pork steak with a sauce prepared using Fitz’s root beer is one example of a dish unique to the St. Charles location. Prasino will pay homage to this town’s love affair with toasted ravioli when it begins to offer oversize, baked house-made T-ravs; and a waffle cone with house-made ice cream (pictured) recognizes St. Louis’ claim to fame as the birthplace of the ice cream cone. Gooey butter cake? Already on the menu.

Among the sustainable design features in the 280-seat interior (with alfresco seating for an additional 100) are: seats made from recycled seatbelts, wood reclaimed from a warehouse in Missouri, lighting fixtures made from recycled cardboard and reclaimed cement blocks used to outfit the bar.

Case added that Prasino looks for opportunities to reduce the environmental footprint of its kitchen with energy- and water-saving appliances and bio-diesel recycling of spent oil. Prasino also uses eco-friendly cleaning materials.

This week, doors at the restaurant open at 11 a.m. Beginning April 30, Prasino will commence its regular hours of operation, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night.

Windowsills Cafe & Market is readying to open in Ellisville at 1326 Clarkson Clayton Center, next to Dierberg’s. The counter-service cafe will feature smoked foods, house-made sides, pies and Belgian waffles, while the marketplace will carry locally prepared sauces and jams and other specialty food items. The cafe-market, which The Scoop reported on last August, is the newest project by Jeff Allee, owner of Wildwood Pub & Grill. An employee at the pub stated that Windowsills is expected to open sometime this week.

The Press Box in Chesterfield is being reconceptualized as Scarecrow. Besides a new name, the space at 1095 Chesterfield Parkway will see a facelift and a new menu that will transform it from sports bar to upscale-casual restaurant by mid-January, as reported by Feast.

In addition, Chicago-based Prasino is opening a location in St. Charles. Prasino, which is the Greek word for “green,” is built on a concept of sustainability – from the locally sourced ingredients for the food (pictured) to the eco-friendly processes put in place in the kitchen. The restaurant will be located at 1520 S. Fifth St., with an anticipated opening of March, reports Feast.

Finally, while the calendar just flipped to 2013, diners thinking ahead to next year can look forward to the arrival of Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Town and Country. Cooper’s Hawk will be located at 1000-1272 Town and Country Crossing Drive at the intersection of Clayton and Woods Mill Roads, as reported by Evan Binns of the St. Louis Business Journal and the Post-Dispatch’s Evan Benn. The Cooper’s Hawk concept includes an upscale casual dining restaurant, full-service bar, private barrel-aging room, and Napa-style tasting room and retail gift store. The restaurant chain currently has 11 locations spread across five states, with expansion plans for four additional locations, including the St. Louis site.