With her cousin Michael as the business guru and her other cousin Tom as the interior designer, chef Carrie Nahabedian's Loop spot is a family affair; one that's committed to serving the best products from local family farms. Her devotion to market-based cuisine is rooted in her Armenian upbringing and her California training as chef at Four Seasons in Santa Barbara and Beverly Hills. Nahabedian lauds supporting local farms so fervently, she sits on the board of the Green City Market.

As a result, this is probably the only place in Chicago where you can get heirloom tomatoes on your burger, a half-pound of Angus beef cooked over cherry and hickory wood and bedded down on a sweet, toasted onion-brioche bun. One of the best in the city, Naha's burger will please cheeseheads who can score manchego, camembert or artisanal blue cheese to top it off.

Of course, the menu's not all casual. Complex foodie-friendly dishes like crisp veal sweetbreads, braised oxtails and Anson Mills corn polenta studded with shaved black truffles and buttered parsley root round out the offerings.

Tom Nahabedian's clean, modern interior design with its chocolate woods, potted palms and suede banquettes, apes the food in that it feels simple and accessible, yet luxuriant and elegant. For dinner, prices range $11-$20 for appetizers and $26-$46 for entrees.

Centerstage Reviewer: Michael Nagrant