Robin Kasch, owner of Café Manna, 3815 N. Brookfield Rd., is another RSA member and rolls out a newly expanded menu in the next couple weeks.

Hearty highlights include three-bean chili, made with three beans, mushrooms, onions, sweet corn, green chilies and vegetable protein.

"I affectionately call it the meat-lover's vegetarian chili," says Kasch. "Nobody can tell the difference. It is so thick and the vegetable protein that's in there has the consistency of ground beef."

Many of the restaurant's original recipes were from Kasch's personal stash, and she works closely with her team of chefs -- Sandor Csiki, Ben Cullen, Joslyn Killey -- to create seasonal selections, such as the new flatbread pizza -- sun-dried tomato pesto or basil pesto atop a crunchy, crispy piece of flatbread, with toppings of your choice.

The Jamaican-spiced burger has been turned into a loaf with a demi-glaze and roasted vegetables and whipped potatoes, and acorn squash has been stuffed with a vegetable risotto, and surrounded by steamed spinach.

"I'd love to do it year-round," she says, "but of course, squash isn't a year-round thing. We are part of the RSA and I want to support local farmers, so whatever is part of the growing season is what we will have at our disposal."

Supporting local farmers is great and reducing food's travel is significantly gentler on the environment -- as well as your pocket book -- but there is another big reason chefs pay attention to yearly patterns: in-season food tastes better.

"It is so important that you cook seasonally for a few reasons," says Intercontinental Milwaukee's executive chef Robert Ash, who has been at the helm of Kilawat for the past two years.

"You obtain the freshest ingredients out there at the peak of their freshness and they are so full of flavor. Would you buy a watermelon in the middle of winter? The same goes for fall ingredients. We buy apples, pears, squash and wild game in the fall from local vendors that really showcase the high quality -- flavors become more prevalent when they are harvested during the proper season."

Ash alters his menu two or three times a year and some of his favorite fall foods include earthy squashes, mushrooms, root vegetable, "spices that warm the heart" and game meats. Last week he unveiled his fall-times feasting items, which include a scallop dish with a herb-infused parsnip puree, porcini mushrooms and a red wine glaze, a Strauss lamb osso bucco with a barley risotto and baby root vegetables, and Wisconsin cheese fondue.

If you're looking to dine out this coming holiday, he has put together a Thanksgiving menu for Thursday, Nov. 27 that features organic turkey ravioli and Labelle Farms duck confit for starters, followed by porcini-rubbed Strauss lamb loin and Diestel Farms turkey breast and finishing with a spiced pumpkin tart for dessert.