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Hi,

Several years ago when LTHforum was a listserv and not yet a website, I walked into Il Mulino Bakery during a Lenten Friday. The owner Maria was eating a light meal of pan fried chickpea flour dough on a piece of bread with a squeeze of fresh lemon. She gave me the backstory about this being a street food in Italy. She prepared some for me without any desire to sell, she just wanted to share the experience. I went home to report this interesting experience to share with my friends expecting no reaction. What I didn't appreciate during this visit was underscored in the excited response, this was a very uncommon find in our region.

Fast forward to today, I had had lunch somewhere else in Highwood and passed Il Mulino to buy some bread. There were maybe five pannini panella, those chickpea sandwiches, stacked up ready for sale. The whimsical nostalgia lunch for herself is now a regularly offered sandwich.

Pannini Panella, Photo by Jonah


Today in Il Mulino I saw for the first time their made on the premises lasagna of eggplant and ricotta nestled between freshly made lasagna pasta. Maria emphasized her freshly made pasta had fewer eggs than most due to her personal tastes. She cut me a small wedge, then warmed it for me to sample. I never had a more subtle lasagna in any restaurant or home.

Maria offers other Italian street foods as well as partially prepared foods:

Left row: aracini on the bottom and potato croquettes on top.
middle row: variety of calzone
right row: eggplant parmesan


She only makes her eggplant parmesan when her vegetable vendor obtains these Italian eggplants:



This sugar crusted raisin bread makes excellent toast and French toast:



Italian breads in various shapes and forms:



Sweets like Sfogliatelle



and Canollis filled after they are ordered.

It is always a pleasure when people who are noted Italian afficionado's visit Il Mulino, then praise it highly, too, such as Antonius and Amata. More reports can be found here, here, here, here and here.

Il Mulino's is transitioning to a new name: Maria's Bakery. Yet all the exterior signage states Il Mulino. While the label may be changing, the bakery goods and foods just keeps getting better and better.

I am thrilled to nominate Il Mulino's/Maria's Bakery for a Great Neighborhood Restaurant commendation.

IL Mulino Bakery/Maria's Bakery
530 Sheridan Road
Highwood, IL 60040
847-266-0811

Excellent post, Cathy, the model of how to build a case with solid details.

What state is Highwood in?

(I kid!)

I first tried Il Mullino on Cathy2's recommendation several years ago. Many, many visits later, and several posts, I, of course, cannot give a stronger endorsement.

A GNR, in my view, has to be a combination of the food and the attitude of the owner. Maria not only puts out an outstanding product, she takes enormous pride in doing it. She loves to offer tastes of her product and is just generally fun to talk to.

This place has it all.

Jonah

I've posted quite a bit about this place on its dedicated thread, which Cathy linked above. I think it's very deserving of GNR designation and, as such, I second this nomination.

=R=

I posted on Il Mulino some time back and, as Cathy noted in her post above, Amata and I really enjoyed the visit and what we got there to eat. It's a long way from where we live and we've only been back once but as I said in my post, it's an Italian bakery in the area (and I've been to most of them) that very much deserves to be more widely known. I'll stick by that and toward that end, I endorse it is as an excellent candidate for a GNR.

And my paesano, Choey, likes it too...*

Che ncë resta 'a ri'?...

Antonius


http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=132609#132609
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=138491#138491

I'm definitely a newbie to LTH and the GNR awards. But I have to say a bit about Cathy's nomination and my very similar experience with Il Mulino's/Maria's.

I discovered IM about 2 1/2 years ago when trying to locate the Hotel Moraine in Highwood to check out a banquet room. That story is not food related and I won't bore you with it.

However, my friend and I luckily happened into IM to ask directions and ended up spending close to an hour talking to Maria and having her trot out tons of different items she wanted us to try...not buy.

Since that time, I have created excuses to be in Highland Park just so I'm close enough to say to myself that I'm "in the neighborhood" and therefore have to stop in.

The arancini are the best...I could live on them. The artichoke and prosciutto "pizza" is spectacular. She doesn't always have everything I want when I arrive, but tells me if something will be ready shortly; and even if it (sadly) isn't available, what could be more indicative of a little neighborhood spot than the reality that sometimes they run out.

The sfagiatelle (sp??? name??) I admit I'm not 1000% sure I'm even talking about the same thing you all are...she called them "lobster tails" when I first went there and I still ask for those (even though the staff sometimes has no idea what I'm talking about ) are sublime.

I live in Northbrook, so IM/Maria's is not in MY neighborhood. But based on what I've been reading here and the wonderfulness of the place itself, I strongly encourage the powers that be the consider this nomination and award the GNT status to Il Mulino's/Marias Bakery.

I made a trip to Il Mulino earlier this week and picked up an assorted box of pastries to share with my fellow LTHers the night we went to bonsoiree. Although the pastries weren't the works of art you might find at Pasticceria Natalina, they held their own against any number of other Italian Bakeries along Harlem. I very much enjoyed all of the varieties I tasted, and the aranchini I had for lunch was very good as well. More than the quality of the food, the atmosphere and vibe of the bakery were something right out of the Old Country, with a couple of old men sitting around drinking their espressos and the lively banter with Maria behind the counter.

Although I live nowhere close to Il Mulino, I'll go back in a flash if I ever find myself near. This is a great GNR nomination!

I live nearby, and I agree that it is a great nominee. I have always liked their bread and pastries, but now that they have more of the prepared foods, I find myself there more often. My kids favorite dinner when the parents are out is a reheated sausage calzone and a meat arancini. Excellent place.

-Will

I think Il Mulino is great too, and that's based mostly just on the arancini; I didn't even know they made calzones ( I'm going back RIGHT NOW!)

I'm not much into sweets but for Sweet Baboo I really like to get the yellow bundt cake with the thick chocolate icing, or the individual-serving versions of the same.

As I think I posted somewhere, for what it's worth, I particularly latch on to the word "nieghborhood" in the "Great Neighborhood Restaurant" name for the award, and Il Mulino is one of the places that makes me wish I could move back to Highland Park/Highwood.

Okay, my very last post on a GNR nominee before the voting (at least, I doubt I'll be eating at Vie or Le Titi de Paris tonight, and I know I can't go to Casa de Isaac on a Friday night...)

I haven't been to Il Mulino/Maria's, but Stevez brought a big, big box of stuff from there to our Bonsoiree dinner, which was very kind of him. So I can judge it a little by that. I would put it well in the upper echelon of bakeries, if not as delicate and magical as Pasticceria Natalina, which has become my gold standard (as it seems to have for nearly everybody). But nicely done stuff, quality ingredients, and for a no doubt lower price point than Natalina's.

Add to that the reports about atmosphere, prepared foods, etc. and I am happy to support Maria's GNR as (apparently) a homey, well-loved spot with real character in its burb.

This restaurant is currently up for GNR renewal. Please post your comments below.

Thanks,

=R=
for the GNRs

You know, I was wondering if Marie's was still in business. We've heard so little about it since the GNR was awarded.

Coincidentally, someone just mentioned it in another thread earlier today.

I've been hitting Maria's on a fairly regular basis (admittedly, scaling back a bit over the past several months because I'm trying to eat fewer carbohydrates). Their breads, pastries and prepared foods still continue to shine. I've also sourced Yule Logs from Maria's during the past 2 Christmas seasons, which have been delicious and very well-received.

I think that Maria's is just as solid as it ever was and I wish that my diet weren't as restrictive as it is these days, so I could enjoy it more often. Great bread, like what can be found at Maria's, has been the hardest single thing for me to give up. Still it's nice to know that she's there, doing her thing because when I do want to indulge, it's great to have something so high in quality so nearby. I feel that a renewal here would be well deserved.

=R=

While nearby, Maria's isn't particularly convenient for me to drop by when I'm feeling like a bakery. That's the only thing keeping me from visiting more often.

Just last month I mentioned, a stop turned into a great smattering of goodies. I walked in behind a woman who was discovering Maria's for the first time. She couldn't stop ordering, asking for one thing after another until she reached about a dozen items, all the time commenting that she never knew that this place had so much to offer.

It's that kind of establishment.

I wasn't in a position to take home too much on that visit, but was surely tempted by the array of sweets and savories. In addition to the sfogliattella, recently I've enjoyed an enormous slice of ricotta topped pan flatbread (can't call it a pizza) that crisped up brilliantly in a toaster oven, arancini with cheese and peas, rice and meat and spinach and cheese fillings and an extremely delicate almond pretzel (shaped like a thin, street stand pretzel but really a dough made with sliced and crushed almonds and hollow inside).

I will try to stop by this weekend and take some pictures. I should really make an effort to go more often because when I'm in Maria's, I can't help but point and order because it is so various and everything has been very good.

I strongly support the renewal of GNR status for Maria's. The food is as good as ever, both the sweets, and the savory food available on weekends. On the savory side, I've had arrancini, calzone (a sort of deep fried version), eggplant parmasian, her sicilian style pizza and a great polenta sandwhich, the name of which I forget. All great. My wife could talk better to the sweets, but she's pretty picky and really likes the stuff here.

Equally important is Maria, whose spirit fills the place. When she's around, she "forces" you to taste anything she sees you looking at, it will be delicious, and you'll buy (happily) more than you intended. She is clearly an owner who loves what she's doing.

A classic GNR for those of us on the North Shore.

I also strongly support Maria's renewal. I go regularly, and I have to always remember to ask if there is anything new available, since she often has something special hidden off to the side or cooking in the back. Since there are 2 tables that are often occupied, it is more than just carryout, in case some people may have an issue with that.

-Will

As a dedicated fresser (someone for whom the pleasures of food play a way-too-important role in life), I owe many debts of gastronomic gratitude to this forum. Maria's is very high on that list.

gastro gnome's comment (above) "I walked in behind a woman who was discovering Maria's for the first time. She couldn't stop ordering, asking for one thing after another until she reached about a dozen items…" could have described any of my visits to Maria's – if the woman was 5'4" inches tall, weighed 215 pounds and had a full face of hair. The only time I have been to Maria's without buying enough stuff to require two trips to the car was when The Jersey Girl and I had lunch there on the way to a funeral service and reception in Lake Forest. When having dinner in Highwood, I allow enough time beforehand to stop at Maria's and fill up the cooler.

Our extended family has raved about the prepared foods from Maria's. We have fought over a smorgasbord of pizzas while watching the Bears. The lasagnas and the eggplant parmigiana get eaten before they have sufficiently cooled to avoid mouth burns. The arancini and the calzones are superb. And the bakery sweets are addictive.

If Maria's needs any more support to be renewed as a GNR, look to Jonah's comment about how delightful Maria is (which also applies to her staff). Even The Jersey Girl approves of my unabashed crush on Maria. She makes every visit a joy.

You probably already know this, but I whole-heartedly support the renewal.

For me to have not specifically mentioned Maria's Eggplant Parmigiana is a crime for which I hope to someday be forgiven. It's been nothing short of amazing, in my experience.

=R=

RENEW RENEW RENEW

The eggplant parm got my wife through her last pregnancy. I love the pastries but the prepared food items mentioned above are incredible.

Hi,

Last summer, I met Maria's just as she arrived from shopping. She walked me out to the parking lot to inspect her trunk filled with vegetables from Nichol's Farm. These vegetables would soon be in a tender lasagna or eggplant parmesan. To cpompliment her careful vegetable purchases, she makes the pasta sheets in-house for her lasagnas. If you know to ask, she will sell you Wisconsin parmesan that looks as good as imports.

Maria remains one of the better bakeries in the area as well as an excellent source of assembled meals to finish cooking at home.

Regards,