Out-of-towner needs some help

I live in Nashville and every year I get my brother and his wife a gift certificate to a Chicago restaurant (they live in Oak Park). In the past i have sent them to places like Blackbird and Vie. I would like to send them to an Italian place this year and I am looking for some recommendations. Nothing old-school; something contemporary, along the lines of the aforementioned restaurants. Thanks for your help.

If you ever need some recs for Nashville, let me know!

hido wrote:In the past i have sent them to places like Blackbird and Vie. I would like to send them to an Italian place this year and I am looking for some recommendations. Nothing old-school; something contemporary, along the lines of the aforementioned restaurants.

The place that best fits your criteria is Spiaggia, although that's a couple of ranks in price higher and it's not exactly contemporary in the same way. Cafe Spiaggia may work, too, although it leans even more traditional.

The Italian trend in Chicago lately has been ultra-traditional, with places climbing all over each other to produce the most authentic, Old World-style brick-oven pizzas, house-cured salumi and the like.

John Bubala, one of the few chef/restaurateurs who tried to do his own take on Italian cuisine, has already closed one short-lived experiment and is shutting the other at year's end. There was also Romeo Romeo, but that's closed, too. I guess Chicago's Italian-food fans aren't ready for contemporary fare.

Three suggestions - all of which give them some flexibility in choosing a restaurant, rather than specific certificates which require them to go to one location. One of the reasons I like having that flexibility (when giving as well as receiving) is that, if the recipient doesn't use up the entire balance on the gift card in its first use, he can go to a different restaurant for the remainder, rather than being forced back to the same place.

1. Additional information on LAZ's excellent suggestions... Spiaggia is an expensive, splurge, fine dining Italian restaurant, one of the finest restaurants in the entire city, and Cafe Spiaggia, next door, is its moderately priced sibling. Both are excellent at what they do. Whereas places like Blackbird and Vie typically run roughly $100/person including moderate alcohol, tax, and tip, Spiaggia generally runs $175-275/person (more if you get the optional white truffle ), and Cafe Spiaggia is a bit less, maybe $75-85. Spiaggia is unique in Chicago in that it's the only restaurant of that high caliber that is Italian. Both Spiaggia and Cafe Spiaggia are part of the Levy Restaurant group, whose locations in Chicago also include Fulton's on the River (seafood), Bistro 110 (French bistro), and Jake Melnick's Corner Tap (burger pub).

When you buy gift certificates to the Levy restaurants - which you can do on the group's website at levyrestaurants.com - they are good at all of their restaurants, not just one. Also, during the holidays (i.e. right now), they have a special promotion in which, for every $100 in gift certificates you buy, they give you an additional lightly-restricted gift certificate worth $25 for free. You can have the bonus certificate sent to the recipient or to yourself. Either way, it stretches your gift dollars further.

2. The Lettuce Entertain You group of restaurants is a large group of maybe a couple dozen restaurants, almost all in the Chicago area. They, too, have the same deal during the holidays, with the $25 bonus certificate for every $100 in gift certificates. They have a few Italian restaurants (Scoozi! and Tucci Bennuch), although not quite as good as Cafe Spiaggia. Their gift certificates are also good at Maggiano's Little Italy, a national chain of Italian restaurants they started and then sold to the Brinker group, including several locations in the Chicago area (and one in Nashville). (I happen to like Maggiano's a lot, partly because I really enjoy their entree salads, but their Italian food is pretty good too, IMHO.) Lettuce Entertain You's offerings also include a few splurge restaurants on the level of Spiaggia (Tru and Everest), although they are not Italian. The Lettuce Entertain You website is at leye.com.

3. Another option for gift certificates for restaurant dining is with American Express, from whom you can get a gift card good at any restaurant that accepts their credit card. Obviously this provides the maximum flexibility for the recipient in choosing a restaurant. No great deals here; in fact, they charge extra for shipping on top of the gift card's value.

I would agree with the Spiaggia/Cafe Spiaggia recommendations, although Spiaggia is a very formal restaurant.

Magiano's, in my mind, doesn't quite fit the bill. Food is OK for what it is, but its pretty standard Italian-American. I'm also a little suspicious of Brinker's takeover and expansion of the chain, although I haven't been there for a while. At any rate, you can see thier menu on line and judge for yourself.

I would recommend Coco Pazzo as a higher-end Italian option with a more contemporary feel. I go there quite frequently and have never had a bad meal, although I tend to favor their pastas over their meat dishes. I prefer Coco Pazzo to Cafe Spiaggia.

All have web sites that will give you a better idea of the menus.

nsxtasy wrote:They have a few Italian restaurants, although not quite as good as Cafe Spiaggia.

Although I've always thought, for the price, Scoozi is nice solid Italian - maybe not exactly what the original poster was seeking, though.

wak wrote:Magiano's, in my mind, doesn't quite fit the bill. Food is OK for what it is, but its pretty standard Italian-American. I'm also a little suspicious of Brinker's takeover and expansion of the chain, although I haven't been there for a while. At any rate, you can see thier menu on line and judge for yourself.

If I were to recommend an Italian restaurant in Chicago, Maggiano's wouldn't be my first choice, but it's not a bad choice by any means. And it is only one of the many options available if you give a Lettuce Entertain You gift certificate, and it also has several locations around the area. Lettuce Entertain You offers a variety of restaurants, from inexpensive to the top tables in town, with many different kinds of cuisine, and restaurants in different parts of the city and suburbs.

wak wrote:I would recommend Coco Pazzo as a higher-end Italian option with a more contemporary feel. I go there quite frequently and have never had a bad meal, although I tend to favor their pastas over their meat dishes. I prefer Coco Pazzo to Cafe Spiaggia.

All have web sites that will give you a better idea of the menus.

There are links to the restaurant groups in my previous post, and the website of each restaurant group has a link to the website of each of its constituent restaurants. Coco Pazzo, in River North, has a website here and is close in price to Blackbird and Vie. Coco Pazzo has a somewhat less expensive sister restaurant called Coco Pazzo Cafe about a half mile east of Coco Pazzo. You can buy gift cards from either website; I believe they are only good at those two restaurants, and there are no special bonus deals for the holidays the way the Levy and LEY groups offer. FWIW, I like Coco Pazzo and Cafe Spiaggia equally well.

I do not know if they do gift certificates, but Merlo on Lincoln is a fabulous and authentic Italian restaurant, and not part of any chain. The owners are from Italy (Bolgna I believe but am not certain) and the kitchen excels at handmade pastas and rich sauces. The ragus and bologneses (plural, yikes?) have a lot of depth and texture. And it's quite an intimate, romantic setting. Last time my husband and I were there, for an all too rare "date night" it really was a damn near perfect evening.

The other spot that is also consistent and thoughtful in the food presentation is A Tavola on Chicago Ave (handmade gnocchi in a sage butter sauce, sigh) but I have not been there in years, maybe someone else can confirm as to whether or not it's open.

If someone sent me a gift certificate to either of these places I would be delighted. And so would my husband!

good luck!

bjt

I was in town for the National Restaurant Convention around five years ago and a new Italian place had just opened. It was owned by a young, female chef and I believe it was on the North Side (but I cannot confirm that). It was upscale and modern. The entire menu was in Italian, the wait staff was in black and it probably sat around 100. The bar was to the right of the front door when you walked in and it had street access. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Is it still open? It got some national recognition when it opened because that was how I had heard of it.

Anteprima in Andersonville is amazing, small and locally owned. 5316 N. Clark St. 773-506-9990 I ate there recently, the staff was well trained and knew the food which was all very fresh and spot on. Great experience all around.

What LAZ says above about the higher end Italian restaurants in Chicago seems very true, and Merlo, Coco Pazzo, and others not mentioned (Gioco, for instance, for Tuscan food) fit that pattern. All very good, all (with the exception of Spiaggia--in a class by itself) attempting a traditional take on Italian food. One other to add to the mix is Follia, whose owner is Milanese and whose food is traditional northern Italian. What separates this place from the others is the modern flair of its decor. It's not "subtitled" cibo e moda for nothing:

http://www.folliachicago.com/

jbw wrote:What LAZ says above about the higher end Italian restaurants in Chicago seems very true, and Merlo, Coco Pazzo, and others not mentioned (Gioco, for instance, for Tuscan food) fit that pattern.

Gioco is part of the KDK group of restaurants, along with Marche (French bistro), Red Light (pan Asian), and Opera (Chinese). The KDK group has the best deal going on gift cards for the holidays; for every $100 purchased, they give a free bonus certificate for $50. You cannot order the gift cards from their website; you would have to call one of their restaurants, all of which have websites linked to each other and from the group's website.

All of these restaurant groups - Lettuce Entertain You, Levy, and KDK - maintain very high quality among their restaurants. Each restaurant in the group is a unique concept, usually at a single location, usually developed by some of the best culinary talent in the business.

bjt wrote:I do not know if they do gift certificates, but Merlo on Lincoln is a fabulous and authentic Italian restaurant, and not part of any chain.

Merlo has two locations, along with Merlo on Maple. Some would consider that to be a chain, but that is a question of semantics, not food.

wak wrote:I would recommend Coco Pazzo as a higher-end Italian option with a more contemporary feel.

Yes, I'd forgotten about them. Coco Pazzo does lean a bit more contemporary than most, and it's very good.

Another place I neglected to mention is Pane Caldo, where Haiti-born Chef Maurice Bonhomme does a kind of Italian/French/offbeat fusion. For example, he uses ingredients like burdock roots, stinging nettles and purslane. (Note that the "sample" menu posted on the Pane Caldo web site is much less interesting than the actual menu.)

This is really a gem of a restaurant, and perhaps the one that comes closest to the Blackbird/Vie model, though, like Spiaggia, it's quite formal. It's less pricey than Spiaggia, but not by much.

I agree with the Coco Pazzo rec- I love going to the coco pazzo cafe on St. Clair, I always feel as if I've been to an elegant bistro in Tuscany.

They also reviewed Il Mulino on Dearborn on Check please this week and it looked like a really fun and awesome Italian splurge...
http://www.ilmulino.com/visit_us2.html
http://www.opentable.com/rest_profile.aspx?rid=5457
depending on what you want to spend
(It's in a gorgeous old mansion on the gold coast.)

Whatever you choose, it's certainly a thoughtful gift that won't turn into a dustcatcher....

2. The Lettuce Entertain You group of restaurants is a large group of maybe a couple dozen restaurants, almost all in the Chicago area. They, too, have the same deal during the holidays, with the $25 bonus certificate for every $100 in gift certificates.

----

This is just another one of the reasons I hate the LEYE group. They have this bonus, but read the fine print- it's so ungodly restrictive that it's not worth the effort. We bought $300 in gift cards (would have been more but we decided to give out champagne to some folks instead) and were originally going to go with LEYE for their presence in the burbs, but the bonus structure incentive was so rediculous we went with Levy. I've bolded the sections I find the stupidist.

Check this out from the LEYE website:

Please note the following provisions for the Holiday Bonus Certificates:
Valid January 1 - April 16, 2008
Valid on Saturday when seated or presented for carry-out before 3pm
Valid Sunday – Tuesday only at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Valid Tuesday only at Eiffel Tower, Everest and Tru
Not valid on Valentine's Day, February 14 or Easter, March 23
Lettuce Gift Cards and Holiday Bonus Certificates are not valid on the day of purchase or for the payment of private parties, catering events or delivery orders
Not valid with any promotional or Frequent Diner Certificates and not valid toward gratuity or Frequent Diner Points
Frequent Diner points are awarded at the time of purchase only if Bonus certificates are not selected. Frequent Diner points are not awarded upon redemption
No change or refund on unused portion of Holiday Bonus Certificate and not redeemable for cash
Holiday Bonus Certificates are not valid at Hub 51 or soon-to-open restaurant at 2300 N Lincoln Park West in Chicago
Gift Cards are NOT available for purchase at Eiffel Tower, Everest, Magic Pan, Tru or Maggiano's locations outside of Illinois
Please protect the gift cards and bonus certificates like cash, as they cannot be replaced if lost or stolen

jpschust wrote:This is just another one of the reasons I hate the LEYE group. They have this bonus, but read the fine print- it's so ungodly restrictive that it's not worth the effort.

I beg to differ (and I already mentioned that the bonus gift cards are "lightly restricted"). The only really big restriction is that they are not good on Saturday nights; aside from having to use them up by April, the only other significant restriction is that they are only good on specific nights but that only applies to their three most expensive restaurants, not the other several dozen. If you only go out to eat on Saturday nights during the first four months of the year, then I guess that's a big deal to you. But the thing to realize is that these restricted bonus certificates are free and the gift cards you're paying for can be used any time, anywhere. So basically, you are getting a free meal (or portion of a meal) as long as you don't use it on Saturday (or, for their handful of most expensive places, most other days) and use it by mid-April. It's still "something for nothing" and that's still a great deal IMHO.

If anyone thinks these certificates are so unusable that they are worthless, I'll be happy to take them off your hands.

nsxtasy wrote:

jpschust wrote:This is just another one of the reasons I hate the LEYE group. They have this bonus, but read the fine print- it's so ungodly restrictive that it's not worth the effort.

I beg to differ (and I already mentioned that the bonus gift cards are "lightly restricted"). The only really big restriction is that they are not good on Saturday nights; aside from having to use them up by April, the only other significant restriction is that they are only good on specific nights but that only applies to their three most expensive restaurants, not the other several dozen. If you only go out to eat on Saturday nights during the first four months of the year, then I guess that's a big deal to you. But the thing to realize is that these restricted bonus certificates are free and the gift cards you're paying for can be used any time, anywhere. So basically, you are getting a free meal (or portion of a meal) as long as you don't use it on Saturday (or, for their handful of most expensive places, most other days) and use it by mid-April. It's still "something for nothing" and that's still a great deal IMHO.

If anyone thinks these certificates are so unusable that they are worthless, I'll be happy to take them off your hands.

After not receiving a response about my experience at Everest, combined with some bad experiences at other LEYE restaurants, I'm getting to the point where I just don't want to give them another dime of my money.

jpschust wrote:After not receiving a response about my experience at Everest, combined with some bad experiences at other LEYE restaurants, I'm getting to the point where I just don't want to give them another dime of my money.

Of course, that's an entirely different issue from whether the free bonus certificates are worthwhile.

I've had some superlative meals at LEYE restaurants (e.g. Everest, Tru), some that were very good to excellent (Wildfire, Joe's, Shaw's, Cafe Ba-ba-reeba, Mity Nice Grill, Maggiano's), and some that were just okay (Nacional 27, L. Woods, Ben Pao). Not counting the many LEYE places that I've been and since closed.

nsxtasy wrote:

jpschust wrote:After not receiving a response about my experience at Everest, combined with some bad experiences at other LEYE restaurants, I'm getting to the point where I just don't want to give them another dime of my money.

Of course, that's an entirely different issue from whether the free bonus certificates are worthwhile.

I've had some superlative meals at LEYE restaurants (e.g. Everest, Tru), some that were very good to excellent (Wildfire, Joe's, Shaw's, Cafe Ba-ba-reeba, Mity Nice Grill, Maggiano's), and some that were just okay (Nacional 27, L. Woods, Ben Pao). Not counting the many LEYE places that I've been and since closed.

Agreed, though the gift card restrictions are just symptomatic to me of the whole organization's care-less attitude towards its customers.

I would definitely recommend Gioco (I am a waiter there, but still Danny's food is outstanding), as well as a Tavola (probably my favorite Italian in Chicago - the gnocchi in sage brown butter alone are worth a visit), and I have been told that Merlo is excellent but have yet to dine there. If you want "old school" you can try Tufano's Vernon Park Tap or Bruna's in the Heart of Chicago Italian neighborhood.


Gioco
1312 S Wabash Ave

a Tavola
2148 W. Chicago Ave

Merlo (2 locations)
2638 N. Lincoln and 16 W. Maple St

Tufano's (cash only!)
1073 W. Vernon Park Pl. (by UIC)

Bruna's
2424 S. Oakley

Enjoy!

I haven't been in a little while, but Trattoria No. 10 and Vivere were both fabulous last time I visited them. Both offered contemporary versions of the classics. I can still taste the pheasant-stuffed pasta from Vivere, and the farfalle with duck confit, asparagus, mushrooms, pearl onions, and pinenuts, and the ravioli with butternut and acorn squash in a sweet walnut butter sauce are delights I've enjoyed at Trattoria No. 10.

The interior of Trattoria No. 10 is a little more traditional, while Vivere is pretty over-the-top -- but fun. Of the two, Vivere seems to have won more awards.

Trattoria No. 10
10 N Dearborn St
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 984-1718
http://www.trattoriaten.com/

Vivere (ground floor of the historic Italian Village)
71 W Monroe St
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 332-4040
http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com/
http://vivere-chicago.com/index2.html

The food at Trattoria 10 has been great the couple of times I've been there but you want to not get seated against a wall- you can feel the rush of the el go by. The food makes up for the atmosphere though.

I have to 2nd or 3rd the recommendation for Coco Pazzo. If you have to use a larger restaurant group like Lettuce Entertain You, Osteria via Stato is pretty terrific, but maybe not quite of the caliber as Blackbird and others you've purchased before. However, if you get LEYE gift cards they are not specific to any one restaurant.