Huge Produce Sale at Lemon Tree Grocer Now!

So, normally we blog about things that are really exciting like beer, live music, or strange fish! We give you Lemon Tree Grocer's most boring blog post yet: Huge Produce Sale that starts today and goes until April 24th.

The reason we just had to write about our Huge Produce Sale (like that advertisement we snuck in there;) is because it's kind-of a big deal right now. Plus, we always want to make sure our neighbors are saving as much money as you can!

So, just pay attention for the next 10 seconds while we tell you what fabulous deals we have going on right now at Lemon Tree Grocer, and then I promise you are dismissed. Plus, you probably will even want to come by and take part in this Huge Produce Sale!

Lemon Tree Grocer has asparagus, watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, green onions, tomatoes, and pineapple! Tell me you're not excited about any of those, and you would be a big liar!

Thanks for your attention to this matter, and we hope to see your fresh face soon with some produce in your baskets ;)

Fish at the Lemon Tree Grocer...or, Have You Ever Tried Escolar?

This next blog is taken from Chuck and Karen Keenley's gracious email they sent to us. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this; it truly means a lot not only to the people mentioned, yet the entire Lemon Tree staff.


Shoppers: next time you are in the store, go back to the meat/fish counter and ask for "escolar". Proving I am no know-it-all, the first time I heard the word I thought Mike and John, the 2 resident butchers, were mistaken...they must mean "escarole", a form of lettuce I do know something about having worked in a produce department about a 100 years ago.

No, they assured me, not "escarole" but "escolar", a variety of fish caught in the Pacific near Hawaii. Mike, who has been "right on" with his recommendations, told me to keep it simple (he graciously omitted the last word of that saying)- coat it with olive oil and grill it for 10 minutes. Hmm...I don't think I can mess that up!

Forward to 5:30 Saturday afternoon. I am sitting on my patio for the 1st time in who-knows-how-long, downing a couple of my favorite micro-brews, enjoying Karen's inspiration, collard greens with bacon, onion and a dash of vinegar, and savoring this wonderful fish that is moist and has a buttery flavor!

What to try next- it is a tossup between the marlin, the mahi mahi, and the escarole! We are not big meat eaters, but I can only imagine how good the steaks and chops are!

Shaun and Tim- thanks for bringing such great quality to Downers Grove!

Chuck and Karen Keenley

Win Easter Brunch for Two at Zest....

You know you want it..Easter Brunch at Zest where you can feast on French Toast, omelets that make your mouth water, mimosas which will make you smile, and more..

There's just one simple task we ask of you to be the winner of Easter Brunch for Two at Zest...Since Easter is all about the Easter Bunny, and we love to paint eggs all different sorts of crazy pastel colors: let's do a contest based on the those bright colored little suckers.

We want you to post on Lemon Tree Grocer's fan page wall: the best egg dish you have ever eaten! You can post a picture, recipe, or even a video of making your egg based dish. Whatever your heart desires!

The winner of Easter Brunch for Two at Zest will have the most "likes" by the picture, video, or recipe at the end of the contest! (We will prepare you for this, so you can get any last minute votes in) Make sure to tell your friends, frienemies, enemies, cousins, uncles; whomever they need to like your entry!

So, hurry up and get to it. What's the best, yummiest, most scrumptious way you've ever eaten eggs? It could just win you some free eggs at brunch!

Lemon Tree Grocer brings the Official Thirsty Thursday to Downers Grove..

So, I'm sure you've got wind of this special thing we're trying to do here at Lemon Tree Grocer called Thirsty Thursday! Now we're doing wine tastings every Thursday for the winos and the last Thursday is dedicated to you beer drinkers!

We've got samples from Goose Island, Lagunitas, Windy City and more today. We also started off this week right with a Three Floyd's Gumballhead keg we tapped on Tuesday for Beer Geek Week! (2 year wait to get your hands on a keg of Gumballhead, can we say...Lemon Tree feels the love) Beyond the nice warm weather we hope is coming, this nonsense is only getting started! Lemon Tree also has Beer Club of the Month for those of you who have excellent taste in the beer you choose to consume.

Stop in and say hello to James the Beer man who has your BEER interests at heart..hehe Finally, here's to the first beer dedicated Thirsty Thursday; if you miss it you'll have to wait until next month...and by then you might be a little parched!

Lemon Tree attends the Family Farmed Expo..

Well, as some of you may know there was an amazing Food Expo called: Family Farmed that happens every year. If you haven't been, and you're a true foodie, lover of food, chef, supporter of local food vendors: you need to get your act together and attend this Expo!

People; this is exactly what Lemon Tree Grocer stands for: supporting local companies, organizations, vendors, and more! We would like to give a shout out to Square Organics who we had a nice chat with, and took the lovely picture above with as well....

So, have you ever been? There's something for all ages with cooking demos, workshops, local restaurants, tastings: it truly is a food lover's dream!

Our big adventure was learning how to work with local sustainable growers while sourcing new products for the shop..Stay tuned to find out more, and as always: thanks for being a fan of Lemon Tree Grocer!

Feel free to tweet us @LemonTreeGrocer if you have comments, or just want to say hello!

Zest...The New Lemon Tree Grocer Cafe!

So, who attended the lovely festivities and unveiling of Lemon Tree Grocer's new cafe: Zest on Saturday? Well, if you weren't there for all of the excitement you must be sure to visit sometime soon. The cafe expansion, new menu, fabulous entertainment, and a long list of specialty beeers you must try are on the horizon.

With over 700 entries to choose from we definitely had our hands full, yet Zest stood out among all. We then had 26 people who chose Zest as a name, so we had a drawing to pick the winner and....:Scott Collis was the winner winner chicken dinner!

We do want to thank everyone who participated, and obviously great minds think alike (reason why there were so many Zest entries). We couldn't have chosen the name without all of you, and are so excited for the many more events, LIVE performances, and fun evenings Zest will have!

So, who wants to see some pictures of this event? Say Zest!!!!

Sean Minor Event is a Success!

So, I'm betting you're wondering what this blog is about? Of course it's covering the wonderful Sean Minor event we had last night at the Lemon Tree. We can't say it enough; thank you to everyone that came out, and for whomever missed it; we want to do more events like this one.

The most important factor about this event, as always, is bringing great people together to eat delectable food, and drink even more amazing wine. I know we go on about this all the time, yet we couldn't do any of this without you, our fabulous staff, and a bit of sanity ( yes just a bit).

Sean Minor was an excellent host and educated us all (thank gosh) on how to appreciate wine. Next, we have the chefs who prepared the succulent six-course meal we undoubtedly feasted on. Finally, the servers that presented our wine and food did a fabulous job as well.

So, let's stop all the chatter, and take a look at the awesome pictures taken last night by Nancy Dunlop. We want to thank you Nancy. The pictures truly capture the essence of the evening.