Prairie Croissant Cafe takes pride in taking care of details
The owners of a Grayslake business are bringing the feeling of a European cafe to Lake County.
John Hundrieser and husband-wife team Scott McNulty and Jacque Shannon-McNulty recently opened Prairie Croissant Cafe along Harris Road in The Shops at Station Square, in Prairie Crossing.
"We're the opposite of a grab-and-go coffee place," said Hundrieser, a 1986 Libertyville High School graduate. "We have the influence of a French cafe where we encourage people to sit down, taste the food and relax," he said.
Jacque explained that they're taking the business out of the realm of fine French dining and turning it more casual.
Quality is the bottom line, according to the owners. Organic foods and a strong devotion to the green movement are other important factors. Jacque said they are committed to using packaging that's compostable or recyclable.
The entrepreneurs conducted intense market research to find the best authentic French bread and pastries. Crepes are made fresh to order at the restaurant. Trips are made early each morning to three Chicago bakeries where French croissants, pastries and vegan and organic foods are brought back to Grayslake.
Some of the more unusual lunch sandwiches have also been going over well at the cafe, which seats about 60 people inside and 20 outside. The panini made with fresh mozzarella, organic basil and organic tomatoes served on ciabatta bread, selling for $9, is a popular pick.
Much of the produce comes from the organic farm right in Prairie Crossing. Organic eggs are harvested at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm.
The owners are familiar with European cafes.
Scott and Jacque, who recently moved from Oak Park to Prairie Crossing, spent two years living in France. The couple is raising three daughters: Ania, 9, Maya, 7, and Fiona, 5. Jacque, 35, also works as a child birth educator and labor support specialist. Scott, who works in the computer industry, graduated with Hundrieser at Libertyville High.
Hundrieser, who lives in McHenry, works for an Ohio software company. He has lived in England and London. His mother, who lives nearby in Libertyville, assists with keeping the books for the business.
Other highlights at the shop are teas and coffees that are all fair-trade and organic. The coffee beans are roasted fresh weekly in Chicago.
Jacque, a Woodridge native, explained that they are taking the coffee movement to the next level, calling the business a third wave coffee shop. Interest in coffee is becoming like wine, she added.
"We're bringing the coffee away from the roasting and back to the agriculture of the beans," she said.
Showing the quality of the coffee, the baristas at the shop are trained to pull a perfect shot of espresso and create designs in the milk of the latte, she said. The designs can only be formed if the quality espresso is made just right. A regular small latte sells for $3.
She added, "we're a step above a specialty coffee shop. This is the wave of the future," she added.