Chicago Foodies

Ricobene's: Breaded Steak Sandwiches

Ricobene's is a long-time Southside institution, with a sign proudly trumpeting its opening in 1946. Though Bridgeport has been playing host to an eclectic melting pot of eateries lately, Ricobene's is no flash in the pan, but a stalwart of old school Chicago dining. Think Manny's, but less Jewish and more Italian.

Framed black and white photos hang on the walls decorated with the classic checkboard motif. A closer inspection of one picture revealed a signature from Mayor Daley. This is, after all, the neighborhood which has served as the home of five of the city's mayors. If political clout isn't enough for you, Ricobene's is also a popular cop hang out. No less than four of Chicago's finest walked through the doors during my last brief visit.

Mia Francesca: Popular Transitional Italian

I moved back to Lakeview recently, and one thing I remembered from before was the perpetually long line outside Mia Francesca.  Somehow my group was able to snag a table at 7:00 on a Friday after a Cubs game with only a twenty-minute wait, for which we were very grateful to the maitre d'. 

Despite living in Chicago for almost five years I never managed to eat at Mia Francesca's flagship location.  I tried Francesca's at Bryn Mawr in Edgewater a couple times, and the food was quite good.   The Francesca name appears to have branched out, and it piqued my curiosity to do some digging:   I counted seventeen restaurants on their web site, thirteen of which are conveniently located in the suburbs.

Riccardo Trattoria: As Real As Italian Can Get

My wife and I stumbled upon Riccardo Trattoria when we were checking out the line at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder next door and decided instead to pursue other options.  We decided to eat there on a whim, and when we were done felt that we needed to return a second time.

All but one of the staff I have seen so far are Italian.  The passion for the food, the homemade pasta, and the attention to detail make this mid-priced restaurant an incredible value for money.  For an appetizer  I ordered the Honeycomb Tripe Florentine, which was braised with tomatoes, what I believe were basil leaves, and Parmesan cheese.  It was outstanding and exceeded expectations, and I would recommend it to those who do not normally care for tripe.   My wife ordered Minestrone Genovese, which was not your typically tomato and lentil soup, but rather a wonderful pesto and rice soup.

BRAVO! Cucina Italiana

You know when you walk into a restaurant and the majority of people are waiting to see Madagascar 2 that you are probably in the wrong place.  That’s exactly where I found myself early on a Saturday night – at Bravo, the new restaurant that replaced Wolfgang Puck’s next to the Evanston Century Theater.  The proximity to the theater makes it an easy choice, especially as the weather gets colder.  The wait for a table on a Saturday was about 30 minutes.  We luckily got a seat at the bar, ordered wine and reviewed the menu. 

Adesso: BYO Italian in Lakeview

Tonight I bought a bottle of red wine and went over to a restaurant with a curious, funky vibrant inside called Adesso.  With a striking brown floral motif, Adesso grabs your attention as you walk down the west side of Broadway a few blocks north of Belmont. 

Service is peppy, attentive, and not pushy or intrusive (though perhaps not quite as informative)   Since we were in the restaurant on a slow Wednesday we never had to wait for anything either.

Fresh Pesto

When I'm on the road I stay at a room with a kitchenette and boil up pasta with pesto sauce.  By far my favorite pesto is called Sauces 'n' Love, which Whole Food sells.  It's a refrigerated pesto and neither has the bitterness nor the staleness in jar pesto and other refrigerated brands.  Today, though, with a week off the road I decided to make homemade pesto.  My wife and I went to Lincoln Park's Green City Market and bought some fresh basil from Growing Power, a favorite spot of ours and bought some Italian basil.   With some pine nuts, garlic, Parmigano-Reggiano cheese, salt, pepper, and olive oil, and a blender or food processor and shazam!  Pesto is done in 10 minutes.  I still haven't been able to match Sauces 'N' Love but believe I added too much garlic and didn't take some stems and leaf-ends, which added bitterness.  The recipe came from Ruth Reichel's Gourmet cookbook, but I also found the online link to share.  http://www.ruthreichl.com/?ID=3&page=8#recipe

However you make pesto, hopefully you will find it's much, much better than what you find in most supermarket shelves.

La Gondola

La Gondola is tucked away in a small space of a "strip mall" shared by Jewel-Osco on Ashland in Lakeview. Blink, and you might just miss this hole-in-the-wall joint. The restaurant literally had about 6 tables and a single waiter bustling around the small space.

Terragusto: Wonderful Homemade Pasta at BYO Prices

Honestly I had not heard about Terragusto until two days before I ate there. We received a recommendation from someone I just met, and it was convincing enough for us to want to go there. The fact that the restaurant was BYOB made it very easy to consider, and I promptly went to one of my favorite wine shops, Que Syrah on Southport, and picked out a traditional Italian dolcetto (a red wine from the Piedmont region).   It seems that lots of people know about this place, too.  I was told that 5:00 dinner on Saturday was impossible so I had to settle for Sunday.

Think Cafe

So, it's not much to look at from the outside, but the food inside of Think Cafe is spectacular.  The Web site says this place used to be a kitschy cafe, but it's definitely swank these days...blond wood, white linens, etc.  Most of the patrons used the BYOB menu as an excuse to pull out the neoprene wine cooler bags they received for Christmas, but one guy pulled up with a 12 of Miller Lite, so really, all kinds are welcome.

Aldente Cafe and Lounge

I met a couple of girlfriends out for dinner and drinks Saturday night at Aldente Cafe and Lounge.  It was about 8:30PM when we walked in and the place was pretty empty.  We started at the bar and ordered glasses of wine.  I asked the bartender what he would recommend and he commented that he didn't drink wine so he couldn't recommend anything.  A bartender that doesn't drink wine?  I might not think anything of it in a bar but at a restaurant?  OK.  I ordered a Chianti and after a couple of sips we moved over to our table.