After 35 years in the restaurant business, Madeleine and Kaveh Mirani felt it was time for a change. So they shuttered Mirani’s, their lovely French bistro, after a 10-year run on Elm Street in Winnetka (22 years after they first opened the original Mirani’s Gourmet Deli on Green Bay Road) and moved around the corner with a new concept. Mirani’s at Home is a smaller venue with the same great food and attention to detail, but greatly reduced overhead and a far more reasonable schedule for the Miranis and their kitchen staff. The prices, especially for the quality, are quite reasonable.
Kaveh, who grew up in Tehran, got his PhD in economics at the University of Chicago, but turned his attention toward the kitchen. This new venue allows him to incorporate some of the Persian tastes and flavors of his childhood. For example, the Mediterranean Chicken Kebab ($11) is moist and flavorful, marinated and grilled with peppers and onions. I recommend a side of the Persian Sour Cherry Saffron Rice ($6), each grain of basmati imbued with flavor and memory.
The Kurdish Red Lentil Soup ($5) is Mediterranean comfort food; the Wild Mushroom Soup ($5) a bistro favorite. The Fettucine Alfredo ($12), so often a gloppy mess elsewhere, is surprisingly light here, brightened with peas. Steak lovers, rejoice. The Steak Classique ($17), a seriously juicy 8-ounce prime sirloin, is served with a red wine sauce; of course a side of Bistro Frites ($4), crispy fried potato shavings that are a longtime Mirani house specialty, are de rigueur.
Save room for Madeleine’s luscious Chocolate Cake ($5), which she hand-layers with chocolate genoise and chocolate custard, gilded with a rich ganache icing, or perhaps her knock-out Cheesecake ($5). But don’t overlook the bags of their daughter Niloofar’s Persian Trail Mix ($11 for an 8-ounce bag), an enticing blend of almonds, cashews, walnuts, sundried white mulberries, dried figs, golden raisins and golden berries. Simply delicious.
Mirani’s At Home
567 B Lincoln Ave.
Winnetka
847-446-4646
Open seven days a week from 4-8 p.m., orders are taken online and by phone. Delivery is available via UberRUSH through the restaurant for a flat fee of $7 and is extremely reliable.
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