Glad to Be Their Dumpster: La Piazza, Forest Park

Glad to Be Their Dumpster: La Piazza, Forest Park

Last night, The Wife and I went to La Piazza in Forest Park. I’d been there before with VI for lunch, and several times for focaccia, but never for dinner, and I was pumped.

I had read the online menus, but had a hard time deciding what I wanted. After we were seated, Chef Gaetano di Benedetto (who not only works the room, but works in it, bussing tables, serving food, cleaning up, etc.) came by to say that because he and his staff were leaving on vacation the next day, the Chef’s Choice, usually $45, was reduced to $35. I am so very glad I went with this option. Here’s what we had:

1. Focaccia and chickpea spread – the blend of chickpea, olive oil, lemon, garlic and black pepper is simple and delicious. I usually associate garbanzos with Mexican or Middle Eastern cuisine, but ceci are very common in both Northern and Southern Italian food.

2. Involtini di melanzane – eggplant rolled around a mixture of ricotta and parmesan; di Benedetto seems to have a knack for blending the relatively bitter and rich, like eggplant and cheese, for a complex balance of flavors.

3. Soft-shell crab done tempura style with arugula and watermelon. What a fabulous combination of flavors! The fried sweet crab plays off the bitterness of the leaf and the moist melon.

4. Heirloom tomatoes, fingerling potatoes and crescenza (sp?), a Piedmontese cheese, which was fried into an attractive brown ball that looked like a big luscious macaroon.

5. Yellow beets cut carpaccio style (meaning really, really thin), with pea shoots, pansies, goat cheese and 12 yr. old balsamico. Excellent.

6. Shrimp and gorgonzola with caramelized garlic in a puff pastry – at this point, I was reaching surfeit, but this dish looked great (I didn’t bring my camera for fear I’d blow my secret identity)…and so we ate it all.

7. Rigatoni with shrimp, mussels, lobster and remarkably firm and tasty white fish in a light, slightly creamy tomato sauce. The mussels seemed to have a tempura-like crust, which is very possible in that La Piazza features a lot of “fusion” dishes (but they don’t go overboard; they “fuse” when appropriate to bring out flavors and textures, but they don’t fuse for fusion’s sake, which I think we’re all a little tired of).

8. Gnocchi alla Norcina -- Squash gnocchi with black truffle pesto and chicken – I didn’t think it would work, but it did. I’m guessing there was some potato flour in there, and the gnocchi nuggets were golden and very inviting looking with shreds of fresh basil.

9. Risotto made of Carnaroli rice and a very fine goat cheese, full of flavor, and beautiful to look at: saffron with streaks of carrot and red sweet pepper: summery. Carnaroli rice contains a lot of starch, so it’s very creamy, which complements the crispiness of the carrot and pepper.

10. Chicken with wild mushrooms. Chef Gaetano doesn’t cheat on the mushrooms – they were wild things (Cue GWiv). It makes me mental when places advertise “wild” mushrooms and then give you a bunch of buttons – I don’t know what variety of funghi were used in this broth, but they seemed to be woodland creatures.

11. Halibut cheeks with cherry and chopped heirloom tomatoes. This was a fantastic dish. Those halibut have some meaty cheeks, I’ll tell you, and the lightly fried disks of fish flesh were hugely flavorful in what seemed an almost sweet sauce of slivered garlic.

12. Lemon pannecotta on a spoon, drizzled with olive oil (kind of an amuse for dessert), tiramisu in a flower pot (a tad gimmicky, but good), and flowerless chocolate cake (somewhat standard, but a good example of its kind). If I seem less than enthusiastic about the desserts, it's because I don't usually eat them, and I was feeling very full. We went home with about three pounds of food in doggie bags.

Like I said, this was a $35 dinner – I think, because the chef was leaving for vacation, they figured they might as well serve it rather than throw it out. I was glad to be their dumpster.

La Piazza
410 Circle Avenue
Forest Park,
(708) 366-4010

Shame on you! You brought in a craving for their lasagna. I now refuse to eat lasagna anywhere else and I can't even come close to making it to taste like theirs. Anyhow $35 for all that.. whata deal!

My wife (the Pad Sieu Princess, my respects to Vital) and I celebrated my birthday at La Piazza tonight and were both pleased and filled by an inventive menu served fairly briskly but pleasantly over two hours. We arrived at 5:30 and were the only guests seated in the "loft" area over the entrance, right under the imaginatively painted ceiling. The early reservation time was recommended by the staff since we informed them in advance that we would be trying Chef Gaetano's tasting menu ($58 per person) - some of the freshest ingredients and most popular dishes can run out towards the end of the night, and the kitchen has more breathing room for care and inventiveness before the heat of the Friday night rush.

La Piazza is not a pretentious place, nor does it have the table accoutrements or staff-to-diner ratio of your Michelin-starred central city spots. Service and table presentation are not even as polished as Hemmingway's Bistro in Oak Park, another very fine restaurant (though in a less than perfect room that I hope is updated soon). However, everyone we encountered there cares deeply for the food, and most servers have tasted Gaetano's cooking or even have traveled with him - the focus there is the chef, and what the chef puts in your face. The service and table are just intermediaries. Our hostess for the evening was Jill, an Oak Parker who married an Italian and took a job there because of her fondness for the cuisine. She smiled knowingly upon reviewing our choice of the tasting menu and told us we'd need wheelbarrows to get home - she was quite correct.

The online menu states that the chef's choice is four courses. At many other places, this would mean four plates, plus an amuse or two. At La Piazza, this means seven generous appetizers (course one, delivered quickly over the first 15 minutes of the seating as each plate came out of the kitchen), three luxurious pastas (course two), two alarmingly large entrees (course three), three desserts (course four), cappuccino, and limoncello.

If you discount the fact that two of the appetizers came side by side, and that all three desserts were served on one gigantic terra cotta tile, there were 17 distinct dishes. Or count 13 plates plus the bread course, a meal in its own. Many, many sea creatures died to bring us this meal. In order:

Bread: delicious homemade focaccia with a crisp crown and delicate honeycombed interior. Strong notes of tomato, garlic, and thyme (not oregano and rosemary, so standard everywhere else). Served with a small plate of chickpea puree with coarse black pepper and olive oil. A solid A.

1. tempura calamari in home-ground sesame and white bean tahini, with lemon juice. I think there was also a touch of dark soy, since there was considerable color to the sauce and the only acid seemed to be the lemon (not balsamic vinegar). The tahini had a lovely, toasty sesame-oil flavor and the two large pieces of squid - tentacles gratefully included - were tender, crisp, and served piping hot from the pan. Grade: A

2. beet carpaccio with a fried medallion of goat cheese. Raw yellow and red beets sliced paper thin, dressed lightly in vinegar, extremely earthy, offset perfectly by self-administered daubs of melty crumb-dusted cheese. Trying this one at home soon. Grade: B+

3. eggplant involtini at plasma-like temperature. This tasted exactly like my Calabrian grandmother's eggplant parmesan - all bitterness leached out, good quality melted cheese, fresh breadcrumbs, no other detectable flavors. Delicious and nostalgia-invoking but fairly tame. Grade: B

4. fried zucchini blossoms and green tomatoes. One large plate with two sets of appetizers served in a very piquant red pepper and tomato puree. The zucchini blossoms were stuffed with fresh, briny mozzarella and basil, and with their tempura coating were among the best deep-fried items I've ever encountered, including the deep fried bacon baskets at the Prodigal Son, which burned down after a bring-anything-you-want-to-deep-fry night, true story. The green tomatoes were firm and slightly sour and very good with the sweet puree. Grade: A / B

5. scallops with grapefruit. As Paco at New Rebozo down the street likes to say, "ohmygod." I don't even like scallops and these were spectacular - tender, buttery, no fishiness, that perfect seared exterior with the taste the night's well-seasoned grill, paired with sections of red grapefruit. This needs to make the menu permanently. Grade: A

6. housemade ricotta and spinach. A generous dish of their home-made soft cheese baked over truffle-dressed spinach. A single spoonful of this would have been better at this point in the meal, but the flavor was undeniably great. The Princess loved this one. Grade: A-

7. grilled octopus over arugula, fresh basil, bruschetta toast points, and marinated white beans. The star of the sea and the night, in my opinion. I spent two summers in northern Spain where they pull the pulpo right in off the beach and char it immediately on hot coals on the sand with garlic and lemon, and this tasted every bit as fresh, tender, and nutty. The accompanying bread-salad was a perfect mix of textures and fresh flavors. Already full, I didn't need any encouragement to continue to attack the remaining garnishes on this plate well into our next dishes. Grade: A+

8. butternut squash gnocchi with truffle oil, tiny pencils of asparagus, and sauteed shallots. It's hard to find a gnocchi I don't like, but these were exceptional, and the PSP's favorite of the night. Plenty of gourdy flavor, respectfully little cheese. Grade: A

9. anelli pasta with wild boar. Pasta and pig should be paired much more regularly. This also tasted to me like a hearty northern Spanish dish and brought wonderful memories flowing back. A rich gravy coated the ring-shaped handcut pasta, many of which encircled large porcini mushrooms. Over the top, a sprinkling of only slightly gamey shredded boar and olive oil. Somehow, I'm absolutely sure this would be my dog Fizzgig's favorite. Grade: A

10. risotto with lobster and strawberries. I could never get away with serving this to a dinner crowd, but he can. It was like oatmeal gently boiled in butter with large, halved, perfectly-ripe strawberries on top, and then just as you're about to start your breakfast, a magical crustacean-fairy comes and airlifts chunks of shrimp and lobster into your bowl. If that sounds like a delightful bonus to you, you'd be in heaven at La Piazza. It wins points here for both taste and imagination, but (gasp) needed salt or pepper to identify itself as an entree. Grade: B+

11. broiled halibut with truffle butter on a bed of truffle-sauteed spinach with chopped wild mushrooms and french fried potato strings. This was a special on the regular menu and we heard that they were selling out quickly. Having seen ten plates to this point, this was the first dish featuring rosemary. That's an accomplishment right there at any Italian restaurant, and tells you about the creativity and spectrum of flavors we experienced. Very high-quality ingredients, but I thought that the morning hash-brown aroma and crunch of the potato strings completely destroyed the balance of the dish, overwhelming the truffle and rosemary. I'm going to grade this one hard: C.

12. chicken piccata on mashed potatoes and white beans. Probably the best chicken piccata I'll have, but a surprisingly pedestrian close to an otherwise inventive tasting. Boneless chicken breasts simply sauteed and well seasoned, but pale on pale accompaniments and wearyingly large portions at this stage. Roger Ebert would vacillate between four stars as chicken piccata goes (best for its category, like Shaun of the Dead for zombie flicks) and no stars within the context of the meal (unnecessary), and end up giving it two. I'll go with a C+.

13. terra cotta dessert trio. The kitchen must have been optimistic as to our hypothesized total girth and remaining innard space. A tablespoon each of rich citrus panna cotta topped with crystallized lemon rind and drizzled with olive oil would have been enough, but we then had the task of attacking a flower pot (replete with flower) of fresh whipped-creamy tiramisu and a pound of delicately spiced but over-rich pumpkin cheesecake. We didn't quite make it and were almost comatose when greeted by a red-from-the-kitchen Chef Di Benedetto. It was by this point 7:15 and the joint was jumping, and we were honored that he made the trip over and up, and addressed us graciously. I complimented his octopus. He thanked us for our patronage and sent up some home-steeped limoncello. Grade: A+ (panna cotta), A- (tiramisu), B (cheesecake), A (chef).

Even given my entree grades, make no mistake - this was a magnificent birthday feast. While I would rather have seen smaller portions and slightly more unusual mainstays, I was heartened by the generosity and care given to each plate, and amused that a restaurant of this caliber asked if we wanted any unfinished portions wrapped, and let us walk out to the street with a recorked bottle of delicious falanghina. Our high expectations had been annihalated by the scallops, octopus, zucchini blossoms, and gnocchi, each of which were better than cousins experienced in Italy and Spain. My only hereto-unmentioned gripe was the pervasiveness of (albeit delicious) melted cheese in five of the dishes; we might have enjoyed the entrees more without the internal, eternal saganaki flame kindled by the appetizers. Looking back at other posts and reviews of this restaurant here and elsewhere, and the current menu, I was also quite pleased at the tricks Chef saved for the tasting menu - it seems like the kind of place where few repeats would be encountered even on visits relatively close together. Like Schwa's quail-egg ravioli, La Piazza's squash gnocchi does seem to be one worthy constant.

Do not expect Moto's measured pace - dishes come out as they come up, quickly when things are slow, slowly when things are busy - but be confident you'll get the best the kitchen has to offer, with a full ladle of creativity by the chef. I note that a tapas tasting menu is also offered - currently $36 - and will come back to try that, and post for collective edification in a month or so. Don't think me too Vettelesque if I offer a "bravo" to Chef Gaetano and La Piazza.

David Hammond wrote:...tiramisu in a flower pot (a tad gimmicky, but good), and flowerless chocolate cake

Another amazing meal at La Piazza tonight. I learned two new things:

- Monday is a great night there; 1/2 price on just about every bottle of wine on the menu (including Chef Gaetano's favorite white, the San Gregorio falanghina, so refreshing for the summer), laid-back crowd, priority attention from the kitchen.

- the "Gae-tapas" stuzzichini, or small plate tasting menu, is perhaps even more creative, and almost as filling, as the full tasting. It's $36 for nine (!) plates served in four courses, and after this I'd never go back to the full-blown Chef's menu, though I might drop in for the wild boar pasta a la carte, since we didn't see warm pastas as part of the tapas tasting.

Our plates for tonight were:

1. Zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and pecorino and delicately fried green tomatoes over a spicy tomato-red pepper puree. This was the only repeat from our April tasting, and was even better tonight (softer tomatoes and more present blossoms) if slightly undersauced.

2. Cappellini pasta dressed in beaten egg with olives, red onion, olive oil, sage, and cubes of tuna tartare that appeared to have been poached ever so slightly by contact with the hot pasta in the kitchen, although the dish was intentionally brought to the table at room temperature. Excellent.

3. Calamari run through with full asparagus stalks, then sliced into maki-sized pieces, tempura fried, and placed center-up in a sesame aioli (like a tahini). Gaetano really knows what to do with octopus and squid, though both fried plates so close together made the start of the feast slightly too heavy (that said, I had several meals in this fashion in Campania and didn't mind it).

4. Fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto, dressed generously with 25-year balsamic vinegar, on a watercress salad. Very simple, very nice.

5. Hand-delivered by the chef, a generous plate of heirloom tomato slices, which he had dressed with strong Tuscan olive oil and Saba, an apple distillate. They were arranged around a "flan" of whipped squash puree with ricotta, goat cheese, and walnuts. Perfectly ripe tomatoes, excellent contrast with the rich flan. Delicious and market-fresh, just like the earthy asparagus in the calamari and watercress from the fig plate.

After a pause, the primary warm plates:

6. A layered casserole of wild mushrooms and squash cooked in butter and wine. Remarkable summer flavors, toothy sweetness from the squash, dressed perfectly.

7. Shrimp in a very French beurre blanc and puff pastry. In my opinion, the only miss of the night - fresh seafood but far over-rich at this point in the meal and little contrast of texture and color between the tender pastry, sauce, and shrimp.

8. A transcendent surprise: falling-off-the-bone ribs glazed in imported honey over bacony lentils. I'd say these were pork spare ribs. I'd take these any day over the offerings at Honey-1 or even Smoque! There were pools of thick golden honey around the platter edges for dredging; I could have made a full meal off this single plate.

As we were finishing these plates, the chef returned with:

9. coffee cups full of corn soup with heavy cream, truffles, and cilantro-laced oil. Ridiculous or genius as a closer depending on your point of view and level of fullness.

We took a long break for conversation and digestion before coffee and a bite each of torta di cioccolata with hazelnut-chocolate semifreddo and raspberry coulis, extremely flavorful with bursts of toasted cocoa.

Compared with the $40 tasting at Terragusto, you get friendlier and more personally engaged service including personal attention from the head chef, and a much wider variety of ingredients for every part of your palate. The bites are heavier and richer at La Piazza, and you have access to a remarkable cellar of hand-selected Sicilian, Campanian, and Tuscan wines. The Gae-tapas tasting menu trends more towards fusion and experimentation, but everything still has a stick-to-your-ribs, Calabrese Grandma's homeyness to it that is quite pleasant and calming. I once again marveled at the dearth of rosemary and light-handedness with the garlic (except with the focaccia and bean puree, as perfect a starter as ever), evidencing pretty remarkable restraint on the kitchen's part.

Dinner for five with cumpulsory gratuity, tax, and two bottles of very nice wine both carrying the 50% discount, was just over $300, and without coffee, dessert, and wine would even better illustrate the disparity between the range of flavors and care you get at a place like this vs. the same price at a conventional white-tablecloth or steakhouse. I once again highly recommend La Piazza, and hope Gaetano takes those ribs on the road, or at least to the permanent menu.

Best quote of the night:

Gaetano: Are there any allergies, anything for me to avoid tonight?
Father-in-law: Nope, my allergies are just to live animals.
Gaetano: No problem, we kill them in the back for you.

Santander, thanks for the beautifully detailed post about one of my favorite places in the neighborhood.

The use of saba with good olive oil on heirloom tomatoes is a trick I will remember as my crop comes in. I've had a bottle of saba on my counter for a while, and I use it now and again, but balancing it with an acidic veg sounds like an excellent way to go. This sauce has a lot of personality and it's not easy to find complementary foods to use it upon.

Hammond

PS. Isn't saba a product of the grape?

I had to research this since I wasn't familiar with Saba, but apparently there are both grape must and apple must varieties. He clearly said apple at the table, and there was a strong flavor of good fruit and sweetness more like apple cider vinegar than even concentrated balsamic.

Unless you read the Forest Park Review you may have missed this story. Restaurant Partners Feuding over Finances at La Piazza.

Gaetano DiBenedetto, the defendant named in Marani's claim, is the head chef at La Piazza, located at 410 Circle Ave. He referred questions regarding the civil case to his attorney, but confirmed he has purchased storefront property at 7636 Madison St. with plans to open his own restaurant.

I hope the new place works out. It would be practically around the corner from me

Wow, Ann - good catch. I wonder if Gaetano is still in the kitchen while the lawsuit is pending; I would not be likely to head there soon if not. I knew him in a previous life as an event planner, and he has personally crafted and presented three of my best meals this year.

Have you been to Skrine's just up the street yet? Haven't seen much word on it here.

http://www.skrinechops.com/

Santander wrote:Have you been to Skrine's just up the street yet? Haven't seen much word on it here.
http://www.skrinechops.com/

I haven't, though I have been to the one in the loop and was very impressed by both the chop and the smashed potatoes. Thanks for the reminder!

It looks as if La Piazza is closed for good. The restaurant was closed Friday when we walked up. There's a dumpster out front and the sign is down.

stacy lunardini wrote:It looks as if La Piazza is closed for good. The restaurant was closed Friday when we walked up. There's a dumpster out front and the sign is down.

I believe they're changing locations, or at least Gaetano is moving his kitchen. I don't believe they're going far (I think he's staying in Forest Park, but have not had that confirmed).

I can confirm that Gaetano has acquired a new lease in Forest Park. I stopped in Team Blonde - the store adjacent to La Piazza - to pick up something for my loverly wife and found a stack of business cards on their counter for "Gaetano's Restaurant". The location is in Forest Park, 7636 Madison St (west of Desplaines/River Rd south side of Madison at Ashland). Should be open in a month or two...

Marc

I should be able to follow up with info on progress / signage about opening if nobody else does. I drive down that stretch at least 3x/week.

stacy lunardini wrote:There's a dumpster out front and the sign is down.

That was no dumpster. that was Hammond!

Davd Hammond wrote:Glad to Be Their Dumpster

Santander wrote:Have you been to Skrine's just up the street yet? Haven't seen much word on it here.

http://www.skrinechops.com/

I have eaten there a number of times (both with the original owners and now with just Skrine). Bare bones menu: pork chop or chicken breast; sides: smashed potatoes, blue cheese potato salad, red beans and rice, and sometimes pasta salad.

I am not much for pork chops but my other half RAVES about them. I always get the chopped chicken breast, which is a huge portion of white meat that has been chopped into manageable bites and I have them add some of their bbq sauce on top. Very filling. Of the sides, personally their blue cheese potato salad is my favorite or is it their smashed potatoes? Hard to decide.

The food is served on a hot just out of the oven metal pallet (on top of a wooden plate so you don't get burned). Keeps your chop or chicken very hot throughout your meal.

No soup or rolls available. Have to request pepper and salt.

Their tables look like you have walked into an Amish home. NOTHING but nothing adorns them.

If the train, that runs around the upper perimeter of the room is not on, request them to turn it on. It's a fun distraction. Lots of stuffed animals (that were alive at one time) also are part of the decor.

I think it's more of a guy place. Simple food, no accessories. You won't find a sprig of parsley on your plate, that's for sure!


I also cannot wait for Gaetano to re-open at his new place.

Wow...i don't know how I missed this thread but thanks to everyone for all the updates. I look forward to the new restaurant!

Santander wrote:Have you been to Skrine's just up the street yet? Haven't seen much word on it here.

Is this is the same Skrine Chopsthat used to be (or maybe still is) near the Board of Trade?

Skrine Chop (from my archives)

stevez wrote:Is this is the same Skrine Chopsthat used to be (or maybe still is) near the Board of Trade?

Yes!

Actually, Gaetano purchased a building on Madison and should be working on it right now. He told us he would be open by the middle or end of March. We're really looking forward to it, as it sounds most of you are as well. It will not be called LaPiazza though. I think it will just be his name. I know the food will be just as good, if not better. One of the waiters told us that the menu will be shorter. Maybe it will be all tapas or chef's choice instead of ordering off menu.

At the Forest Park St. Paddy's day parade Saturday I saw a sign for his new place - URL is: http://www.gaetanos.us/.
It says it will be open March 15th.
LO

what is to become of the la piazza building if gaetano is moving? i drove by tonight and saw lights on and some cooks in the kitchen. it looked as if they were open for business. anyone know?

According to today's Forest Park Review, La Piazza closed last month. The new place, Gaetano's, at 7636 Madison, is now projected to open on the 18th of this month.

Not on line is the Spring Food Guide that ran in both the Forest Park Review and the Oak Park Wednesday Journal. Gaetano Di Benedetto gets probably 10 column inches in an article about vegetarian options at local restaurants. It mentions that the new place will have a wood burning oven; "we are bringing back the tradition of Italian wood boarding." (Has anyone ever heard of "Italian wood boarding?" Since Google brings up nothing, I suspect a typo). The article says that compared to La Piazza, the menu will be smaller and will "fuse the old-fashioned way of Italian cooking with his imaginative versions of Italian regional cuisine." Among the latter, he mentions using coconut milk to add interest and flavoring pasta with tea.

Of interest to Views Askew and others coping with their own or a family member's food restrictions, is the long discussion of how committed Di Benedetto is to accommodating any needs or preferences of his customers, with special reference to gluten-free, dairy-free, or egg-free.

I look forward to trying the new place out.

It mentions that the new place will have a wood burning oven; "we are bringing back the tradition of Italian wood boarding." (Has anyone ever heard of "Italian wood boarding?" Since Google brings up nothing, I suspect a typo).

This is probably a reference to a technique used by the Italian Fascists during the war which involved dropping a hot pizza (Margherita) direct from the oven, ashes and all, on the faces of resistance leaders to elicit information. Also known as "pizza-boarding," it is similar to "polenta-boarding," which was favored in the northern regions (primarily Piemonte and Lombardia). It is said that the Chicago Police Department experimented with a local method in the fifties, known as "deep-dish-pizza boarding," resulting in several fatalities, but these are unconfirmed rumors.

jbw wrote:
This is probably a reference to a technique used by the Italian Fascists during the war which involved dropping a hot pizza (Margherita) direct from the oven, ashes and all, on the faces of resistance leaders to elicit information. Also known as "pizza-boarding," it is similar to "polenta-boarding," which was favored in the northern regions (primarily Piemonte and Lombardia). It is said that the Chicago Police Department experimented with a local method in the fifties, known as "deep-dish-pizza boarding," resulting in several fatalities, but these are unconfirmed rumors.

LOL!!!
I can seriously picture Eric Idle reading this at a news desk.

jbw wrote:

It mentions that the new place will have a wood burning oven; "we are bringing back the tradition of Italian wood boarding." (Has anyone ever heard of "Italian wood boarding?" Since Google brings up nothing, I suspect a typo).

This is probably a reference to a technique used by the Italian Fascists during the war which involved dropping a hot pizza (Margherita) direct from the oven, ashes and all, on the faces of resistance leaders to elicit information. Also known as "pizza-boarding," it is similar to "polenta-boarding," which was favored in the northern regions (primarily Piemonte and Lombardia). It is said that the Chicago Police Department experimented with a local method in the fifties, known as "deep-dish-pizza boarding," resulting in several fatalities, but these are unconfirmed rumors.

Be careful, jbw, the mods can be very strict with references to politics on the board, and as we know so well, the Italian Fascists and Anarchists may be small, and some might say fringe groups, but none of us want to get between them when they tangle.

politics on the board

LTHboarding - drowning in schmaltz, madeira, and bacon martinis.

I was Googling around and came across this article.

La Piazza - closed

La Piazza closed in February 2008 due to an unhappy business arrangement between Chef Gaetano DiBenedetto and La Piazza's owner.
Chef DiBenedetto opened up a new restaurant down the street in Forest Park, "Gaetano's". A new restaurant opened at La Piazza's old location, "La Bella Bistecca".

We have always enjoyed our meals at La Piazza and we are looking forward to a special occasion to have a meal at Gaetano's but I am also curious about what is happening at the renamed La Piazza, "La Bella Bistecca".

Did it open as planned? I remember driving by recently and seeing some mention of wine tastings and 'Giving the Gift of Wine' from their wine cellars.

Any relation to the now shuttered La Bella on Marion in Oak Park?

Just curious...

Panther in the Den wrote:I was Googling around and came across this article.

La Piazza - closed

La Piazza closed in February 2008 due to an unhappy business arrangement between Chef Gaetano DiBenedetto and La Piazza's owner.
Chef DiBenedetto opened up a new restaurant down the street in Forest Park, "Gaetano's". A new restaurant opened at La Piazza's old location, "La Bella Bistecca".

We have always enjoyed our meals at La Piazza and we are looking forward to a special occasion to have a meal at Gaetano's but I am also curious about what is happening at the renamed La Piazza, "La Bella Bistecca".

I read about La Bella Bistecca in Dish; more here: http://www.labellabistecca.com/belhome.html

David Hammond wrote:I read about La Bella Bistecca in Dish; more here: http://www.labellabistecca.com/belhome.html

Thanks for the link!

Interesting that the menu is heavy on the seafood side (as well as steak offerings) to the extent that the main 'Menu' features their Oyster offerings (a link takes you to the regular menu). Also interesting is that their new restaurant at Randolph and DesPlaines is supposed to feature seafood offerings. While it appeared that the construction at Randolph and DesPlaines had stalled the past few weeks there has been some renewed activity.

It would appear that most of the forum has followed Chef Gaetano DiBenedetto to his new restaurant without much mention (or review) of the old and renamed La Bella Bistecca.