Chicago - January 12, 2010

Ciao Down

The Scrumptious Pantry Artisanal Products

Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.

Unfortunately, NASA has yet to identify the planetary origin of your lunch.

Earth to your stomach: You need a detox. Start with Italian-farmed, freshly procured delicacies from The Scrumptious Pantry, a collective of European food growers who are bringing their bounty stateside.

After ditching her consulting career to manage a Tuscan vineyard, owner Lee Greene had a culinary epiphany. So she gathered her farming friends — growers of figs, olives, and grains — to produce locally cultivated artisan fare.

Give your chemically corrupted taste buds a break (thanks Hot Pockets) with green tomato jam, Charlie Trotter-approved durum wheat pasta, and insanely aromatic roasting and grilling salt.

It’s all out of this world.

Available at Provenance Food and Wine, 2312 West Leland Avenue, at Lincoln Avenue (773-784-2314); 2528 North California Avenue, at Altgeld Street (773-385-0699 or provenancefoodandwine.com); Trotter’s to Go, 1337 West Fullerton Avenue, at Wayne Avenue (773-868-6510 or charlietrotters.com). To see products, go to scrumptiouspantry.com or piazzaitalianmarket.com.

Photo: Courtesy of The Scrumptious Pantry

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