Top nosh

Beet kitchen When Lula Café lost one of its cooks, Ryan McCellan, to a life of farming at Chicago’s City Farm, it gained a personalized delivery service that brings to its kitchen produce that’s only hours out of the ground. For Lula’s golden beet-and-cherry salad, chef-owner Jason Hammel calls McCellan in the morning, McCellan plucks some beets out of their spot in the sustainable, organic garden by noon, and by the time you sit down for dinner, they’ve been transformed into a salad like you’ve never tasted. The beets are roasted and served with candied hazelnuts, Klug Farm cherries that have been macerated in red wine, brioche stuffed with cherry compote and Great Hill’s farmhouse blue cheese. It’s a dish that proves there’s nothing like having friends in green spaces. 2537 N Kedzie Blvd between Albany Ave and Linden Pl (773-489-9554).—Heather Shouse