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.
This article appears in April 2013.