Last Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in a new (opened this July) restaurant in downtown LaGrange, Ill., just a 25-min. Metra train ride from Chicago’s Union Station. Prasino resides in a half-block long space (with sidewalk dining, as well) on LaGrange’s main downtown street (a pleasant mix of boutiques, small businesses and restaurants), and our approach showed that all of the outdoor tables on this warm autumn evening were full. My daughter, who lives nearby and had already sampled Prasino’s brunch, said the place has been booming since it opened. We entered a beautiful, minimally designed dining room with gleaming, pale wood floors and tables, pleasant lighting (not so dim you couldn’t read the menu; not so glaring you felt you were being interrogated by the Gestapo) and tasteful artwork. Turns out the tabletops were fashioned from wood from the demolished Sportsman’s Park Race Track, the oak plank floors were reclaimed from an old barn, and the light fixtures were formed from corrugated cardboard (but, honestly, they were beautiful!).  The restaurant is owned and operated by the Maglaris family, Greeks who’ve been in the business for three generations. This is NOT your typical Greek diner, however, although the founders do credit traditions brought from the old country which included growing one’s own food and making cheese, yogurt, olive oil and wine in influencing the kind of food they wanted to serve here.   “Prasino” means “green” in Greek, and the family is committed to their motto of “Eat Green Live Well” by promoting organic agriculture, artisanal food producers and local growers. Menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner offer a range of options, helpfully identified with symbols denoting vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes (and there is plenty for carnivores to enjoy as well). There’s a juice bar offering a variety of juices, smoothies, organic coffees and teas; and the wine list (with plenty of domestic and imported options by the glass or bottle) notes those produced with biodynamic, sustainable and/or organic practices. All of that is lovely and admirable, but the proof is in the pudding (or, for me that night, the Grilled Thai Curry Pork Loin Medallions with brown rice, mango salad and coconut cashew sauce). In other words, the restaurant wouldn’t be doing so well unless the food measured up to diners’ expectations and at a reasonable price (appetizers run $4–$12.50; dinner entreés cost $14–29). The Maglaris family has shown that a restaurant which embraces environmentally friendly practices from the kitchen to the front of the house can thrive (they’ve recently opened a second restaurant in St. Charles) and produce wonderful food in a great atmosphere. Our server, Katrina, whose uncle and cousin operate Prasino, showed justifiable pride in her family’s accomplishments and gratefully accepted our praise and thanks for a great dining experience. My next trip to Chicago will include another visit to Prasino — maybe for brunch (or brunch AND dinner). If you’re in the Windy City, I’d highly recommend it. And because it’s no more than two blocks from the train station, you can get there guilt-free with a low carbon footprint! — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor