La Grange Restaurant Week celebrates village’s many culinary choices

With so many vibrant culinary options available in La Grange, the much anticipated restaurant week is returning to give diners a reason to put something new on their plates with discounts and special menus available for a limited time.

This year represents the 12th annual restaurant week, which is hosted by the La Grange Business Association. The event will be Feb. 25 through March 5 and includes more than 20 participating restaurants and food service specialty stores.

“One reason we love restaurant week is because it encourages people to visit local businesses during a blustery time of year and gives them a reason to explore,” said Nancy Cummings, executive director of the LGBA. “This is a promotion that has helped define La Grange and has become much more than just a culinary exploration for our community.”

The idea for La Grange Restaurant Week began as a piggyback off Chicago Restaurant Week, an event many smaller, local restaurateurs are not always able to participate in. Bringing the spirit of that event to the local scene has allowed La Grange restaurants such as Kama Indian Bistro to see great benefit by inviting new diners, many of whom become repeat customers, to experience something new.

Kama Indian Bistro is owned by husband and wife duo Vikram and Agnes Singh and has been in La Grange since 2009. Kama Indian Bistro, 9 S. La Grange Road, has participated in Restaurant Week for as long as Vikram can remember, he said, and being part of such a full culinary community is something he feels enhances his and other restaurants.

“It’s good to be part of a community with a lot of quality restaurants and that is what La Grange is, a vibrant community that brings people to us,” Vikram said. “All of these things like Restaurant Week and the variety of businesses make La Grange a successful and thriving community that any restaurant would want to be part of.”

For those who haven’t dined at Kama Indian Bistro, Vikram said what makes the bistro unique is its focus on homemade and fresh ingredients. A dish at Kama will never have any ingredients from a can, he said, with everything from the cheeses, yogurts, syrups and purees being made from scratch.

Growing up in India, Vikram said canned food was not something with which he was familiar, so it made sense to him to run his restaurant the way he ate. He had never been in a canned food aisle at a grocery store, he said, and making fresh, homemade food is something in which he takes great pride.

“It’s not something you see often anymore, but I think once people try it, they get hooked on it,” Vikram said. “There are no cans in the restaurant because that’s how I would cook at home, and I want to share that.”

Kama Indian Bistro is offering a special menu during Restaurant Week that will feature both familiar and new items such as Brussels sprouts with Indian spices, tikka masala and crab cakes.

In addition to new food options diners may see, some restaurants will participate in the Sip & Support, which helps support local nonprofits. Participating restaurants will feature a drink special curated just for Restaurant Week, and sales of that special will be donated to the restaurant’s chosen local nonprofit.

“I think following the pandemic many people have an enhanced appreciation for good dining and eating and celebrating together,” Cummings said. “That’s what this event is and always has been about – celebrating local cuisine and bringing people together.”