A Mano

Had a great meal at A Mano last night. Tuscan-esque small plates place. The two of us went a bit overboard and had the grilled octopus, the culatello (described as a creamier version of proscuitto) and speck, a small serving of the spaghetti (with amazing bread balls which made this our hit of the night), a small serving of the gnochietti (also extremely good with a nice bite), an entree size serving of roast chicken and an entree size serving of the Saturday special stew (pork, veal and beef). Serving sizes are on the smallish side for Chicago, but perfectly adequate for sharing and mixing and matching. Everything we ordered was quite good, although the chicken was very slightly overcooked. We topped the whole meal off with house-made gelato and chocolate/hazelnut cake. The gelato was outstanding -- we tried pumpkin, pistachio, vanilla, chocolate, and chocolate chip (no -- we didn't order all these -- the waitress brought a few of her favorites over for us to try). Wine list is adequate, and the waitress comped us a glass when I ordered poorly and didn't like what I ordered. The one surprise -- the only cheese on the menu was a dessert plate. Overall, a very pleasurable night out.

A Mano
335 N Dearborn St
Chicago, IL 60610
312-629-3500
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Bottom line, this place is fantastic.

The Wife and I went for dinner following the obligatory hour spent at the company holiday party.

The best way I can describe the menu is an upscale version of Quartino. Lots of small plates, a few larger "main courses", but the emphasis is (for the most part) on sharing a lot of smaller plates.

We started with two items from the crudo portion of the menu. We had the scallops which were served with spiced grapes and pears and the hamachi which was served with bottarga and some citrus fruit. The scallops were good, but probably at about 97% of the freshness level needed to make the dish really pop. The hamachi was outstanding, with all flavors nicely complementing each other.

Next we moved on to a couple of items from the "primi" section of the menu. First we had the house smoked salmon served with burrata and some aged balsamic. This was tasty, actually a lot like eating lox a cream cheese. Our other dish was really interesting. Described on the menu as Ribolitto Da Delpina, this was bread that had been left to soak in minestrone soup overnight and was then baked. The bread was served with a sunny side up "farm fresh" egg on top. Just fantastic. A perfect dish on a cold winter night.

We then decided to forgo any of the main dishes and go with a pasta and a pizza. For our pasta we went the the gnocchetti which was served in a sweet butter sauce with shaved parmigiano reggiano. The gnocchetti were exceptionally light and was sauced at just the right level (not too much, but just enough to know there was something there). This was pretty rich so we were happy that even what was billed as a "whole" portion on the menu was pretty small. For pizza we went with the prosciutto di parma with arugula. I have no desire to debate the authenticity of the pizza, so I'll just leave it at this...the pizza was good, not transcendent, but pretty good.

For dessert we shared three flavors of gelatto: chocolate, olive oil and mascarpone. I'm not sure if they're making it in-house or bringing it in, but all three were very good.

Being owned by Bin 36 I was expecting a nice wine program and I wasn't disappointed. We went with a caraffe of a pretty nice dolcetto that was fairly priced at around $20. We also had a couple of glasses of moscato di asti with dessert for $5 per glass. I took a look at the full wine list before we left and it was very nicely put together. Only three wines on the list (1 sparkling, 1 white, 1 red) were over $100. I would say the average bottle price was in the $40-$50 range, with many available both above and below that mark.

Final check after tax but before tip was $110, which I thought was very reasonable given the quality of everything we had. I can see myself going to A Mano very very often.

A Mano
335 N Dearborn St
312-629-3500

jesteinf wrote:we had the house smoked salmon served with burrata and some aged balsamic.

Now that is quite the combo of ingredients!

Thanks for the review. I've been meaning to check this place out after work. Between La Madia and A Mano, there is an influx of new upscale Italian/pizza restaurants in Lower River North.

aschie30 wrote:Thanks for the review. I've been meaning to check this place out after work. Between La Madia and A Mano, there is an influx of new upscale Italian/pizza restaurants in Lower River North.

Phil Vettel just covered them in the Trib and on CLTV.

After going to Spring on Wednesday for my birthday, we went to A Mano last night to continue our post-rush eating frenzy. Our friend (also a food professional) came along with figjustin and me. Our experience was decidedly mixed. We had two servers (one was training) and definitely liked the trainee better than the original who was a little overbearing when she was there and absent when we wanted her (she could have done this on purpose so the trainee would help us).

We started with the hamachi, previously described, and the oysters. The hamachi was very good, but a little high priced for the casual service/layout of the restaurant. Unfortunately I was comparing the oysters to Spring and they weren't nearly as flavorful although we did enjoy the preparation which included golden beets. Next we ordered two pastas (small portions - which was enough to split 3 ways for an appetizer) - the risotto with wild mushrooms and the pappardelle with boar and raisins - both of which I really enjoyed. We received a farfalle (roasted tomatoes & guanciale) accidently (they left it with us since it was ordered incorrectly) and it was fairly awful - undercooked pasta, watery sauce and flavorless guanciale (how do you do that?).

Next a pizza (fennel sausage, arugula & potatoes). The pizza was really good without the ethereal crust of Spacca Napoli. Then the Berkshire pork chop with apples, a side of escarole with truffled garbanzo bean puree (called "Mud & Grass" on the menu) and a Artichoke Heart and Fennel Salad. The salad was light and refreshing with a meyer lemon vinaigrette, but a little salty. The escarole was good, but boring, and the puree was not very good and lacked truffle flavor. The pork, however, was outstanding. Perfectly cooked (roast style, probably on a spit, then cut to order) with a delicious sauce. A little too much fat, but easily remedied by trimming.

For the dessert we tried the trio of gelato/sorbetto (pistachio, eggnog and apple cranberry). All three were very good, but justin thought the pistachio was too toasted (it was my favorite).

So, there were hits and misses on the menu. If the service was more polished we probably would have had a more pleasant experience (in addition to what I mentioned, we also needed to ask for bread and justin got "splashed" with some gelato from a bowl that was dropped a table away). The prices seemed a little high (and I'm comparing to Spring), but we'll probably go back to try more cured meat offerings (hopefully better than the guanciale).

figmolly wrote:We started with the hamachi, previously described, and the oysters. The hamachi was very good, but a little high priced for the casual service/layout of the restaurant.

I kind of thought that too at first. I think the price was something like $10. But then I thought about it in terms of ordering hamachi at a sushi bar. IIRC we got four decent sized slices of hamachi at A Mano, breaking down to $2.50 per piece, which isn't totally out of line for good quality fish.

figmolly wrote:Our experience was decidedly mixed. We had two servers (one was training) and definitely liked the trainee better than the original who was a little overbearing when she was there and absent when we wanted her (she could have done this on purpose so the trainee would help us).

Mrs. JiLS and I had dinner here on Wednesday, and I think we had this same pair serving us. I agree with your assessment, and add that when she was at our table, the waitress seemed in an awful hurry to get through with us and get on with her life. In that vein, I actually think that during the appetizer course, I channeled an image of our waitress in a former, non-waitressing life, when she served as the drum beater in a Roman trireme, the diners her hapless, shackled oarsmen. But I recognize that's a harsh characterization (though compelling at the time); in the light of day, I would think a lot of her quick-draw approach probably had to do with dragging around a trainee in a very busy dining room at 8:00 on a Wednesday, when things by rights should've been dead but were not.

I also agree about the pappardelle, which was exquisite, and the pizza (we had Margherita), which was darned good for an appetizer at a non-pizza specialist.

Just my opinion from two visits in December... that the two restaurants of A Mano and Bin 36 are the embodiment of brother and sister. The details:

I've always been a fan of Bin 36, not so much for their food, but for wine flights, cheese, and appetizers. Then I heard that they recently opened up another place right below them, A Mano, which aspires to an Italian trattoria and focus on the meats and authentic Italian rather then the wines + cheeses- I guess it's the younger brother. Besides the good selection of cured meats, A Mano's food are light bites of pasta, pizzas, and panini, and they do more substantial entrees for dinner. A Mano has wine by the glass and bottle, not flights, and the menu doesn't describe them as enthusiastically as the sister restaurant

I went to both, and I still prefer Bin 36 for a more casual spot if I'm looking for a place to chat and have a drink and a bite, not a whole dinner because I think you can do better for a real meal, despite the more impressive entrees at A Mano. The salumi at A Mano are indeed excellent, but I was not that impressed by the pastas that everyone else has been raving about. When I had the Pumpkin Ravioli with brown butter, black walnuts, brussels sprout leaves, and Pecorino Gran Cru, I found it only so so. I expected the filling to have had more flavor, like they needed to season the filling just a little bitfor punch- otherwise this dish admittedly was otherwise prepared perfectly well.

The Risotto Valpolicella with wild mushrooms and Taleggio cheese was a tad salty, and although the mushrooms were good, I didn't like that they were so large. If it had been some sort of meat, I would have been fine with the size, but if there are veggies in the risotto, I want them a size that doesn't require a knife.

The Gnocchetti with sweet butter and Parmigiano Reggiano was light and fluffy and melt in your mouth, but were not the best gnocchi I've ever had (A Tavola still has that honor). It was subtle and sweet, yet I felt like it was still missing something to take it to the next level.

At A Mano, the antipasto of salumi I selected was Culatello – “Little Rump” Ham. I was disappointed they didn't have the one I wanted to try the first time I was there, the Mole Salami which would have been spiced- they were sold out! However, they did have it on a Sunday evening, and both meats were smooth and super tasty. The other antipasto was Baby Dandelion Greens, Roasted Peppers, Capra Honey Goat Cheese, Lemon Vinaigrette, was a mix: the goat cheese was really good. The greens however, had too much vinaigrette and it soured the mini-salad.

Also, I tried the gelato/sorbetto offerings. I was able to select from half a dozen different flavors, and I chose the orange prosecco (which was disappointing- I expected more prosecco flavor), mascarpone (just for balance), and hazelnut chocolate (which was the best of the bunch). Definitely go for hte gelatos over the sorbettos.

Surprising, the best dish of the night was the entree (only available at dinner- everything else you can get at lunch as well) of “Black Pig”- or at least that's how it rang up on the check! This is the entree of Slow Roasted "Black Pig Chop," Braised Apples & Endive. This chop is HUGE- you can see it is more than an inch think, width wise it is probably 5 inches and length wise 7 inches. Burstingly juicy with a good balance of meat and a hint of fat (even if not full of flavor, look at all that juice it waits so soak up at the bottom of the platter), I could taste the complexity and traces of bacon. I was sorry I could only eat 1/4 of this monster. Some old lady even came up to hug me because she saw me facing this thing on my own, and later came up to check on me to see how I progressed. This is the best pork chop I have ever had, and at $24 it is priced right, assuming you are willing to spend $24 on just an entree (hey, it is like 3 meals, cuz you will take some of this baby home).

Service the first time I went (for lunch) was painfully slow for no reason. The second time I was waited by the person at the bar (despite being at a table just on the other side where the two waitresses were working) and she was wonderful after I was left waiting a while for water and a menu at first. I should note that I went on two off times (Mon lunch, Sun dinner) so I could see them chatting with each other as they worked in the open kitchen. To sum it up, the highlights of A Mano was... an appetizer of meat and an entree of meat for $8 + $24. HA ha, see it is the brother restaurant!!

On the other hand, despite the poor service at Bin 36 for lunch (one guy seemed to be waiting on the whole section and I sadly ate all the breadsticks on the table while waiting, and the breadsticks aren't even that good!), I really felt it met my expectations better. The cheese plate below was incredible. My self-selected cheese flight consisted of for sheep a Brin D'Amour, Chantal Plasse, Corsica, France (”Smothered with herbs, this cheese is a chef's favorite. Maybe it's the rich, pizza-like flavor?“ It totally was my favorite cheese too, it had so much complex flavor!), a goat cheese which was ok but not memorable, and for cow the Burrata, Puglia, Italy (“This one is only delivered twice a month, so when we have it, get it! Mozzarella-like on the outside with plenty of sweet cream curds on the inside”). Out of 3 visits to the place, this is only the first time I was able to get it, which probably built my expectations too high- it got the mozz down but I thought it would be sweeter.)

To compliment my Chardonnay flight, I ordered Duo of Crepes, mixed greens, sherry vinaigrette . The brown one is the porcini with wood grilled mushrooms, gruyere and lemon creme fraiche , very earthy, while the yellow crepe is the chive with truffled potato confit, marissa cheese, white truffle butter. It was light and delicious, I wish I could have had more of it.

A Mano's Culatello – Little Rump Ham

salumi of mole salame

A Mano's pumpkin ravioli

Risotto Valpolicella, Wild Mushrooms, Taleggio Cheese

Gnocchetti, Sweet Butter, Parmigiano Reggiano

Black Pig

A Mano's gelatos and sorbetto

Cheese plate at Bin 36

Crepe lunch at Bin 36

Another fine meal at A Mano this past weekend.

They're starting to emphasize more products made in house, which is really nice. We had mortadella and some cotechino (sp?) sausage that had been made in house and they were both out of this world. The sausage in particular which was served over lentils. Also, a lobster infused pappardelle with crab was fantastic (again, pasta made in house).

They no longer offer half portions of pastas on the menu which is kind of a bummer, but the kitchen was kind of enough to do half portions for us anyway (they might bring them back if there is enough demand).

Total for a plate of mortadella, 2 small plates (sausage mentioned above and bay scallop crudo), 2 half portions of pasta (the pappardelle and a shrimp risotto), a pizza (prosciutto and arugula), a nice cheese plate (5 Italian cheeses) and a bottle of wine (some sort of Dolcetto) was around $130 after tax but before tip.

Has anyone been there for the "Traditional Italian Lunch Buffet" (Pranzo in Piedi)?

pechnmew wrote: salumi of mole salame

Had a few slices of this dried sausage with mole last night at the newly re-opened, post-diluvian A Mano and thought it was just excellent. Kind of a Italo-Mex fusion, it sounds gimmicky (and maybe there's a touch of that) but it worked exceptionally well. The mole is a chocolate-type, and with a hint of pepperiness and lush meat, cut very thin so the flavor of a slice spreads all over the tongue, it was one fine snack.

My parents, my wife, and I had a real nice dinner at A Mano last night, though there were a few minor glitches. This was my wife and my first visit. My parents have been a few times and noted that things have gone a bit downhill.

We started with a sample of three of salumis, the Culatello, Soppressata, and mole salami. I suspect these are from Salumi Artisan Cured Meats in Seattle (founded by Mario Battali's father, Armandino); they were excellent. We also had a sample of three cheeses: the Gorgonzola dulce was quite good. The other two were pretty simple and didn't excite us.

We then had a small pizza topped with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, taleggio, hazelnuts, and truffle oil -- excellent!

We finished with two pasta dishes, neither of which hit the mark. The lasagna is touted on the menu as being the best in the country by Men's Magazine, or something like that. This struck me as a strange thing to put on the menu. More importantly, though, it had a lot of very dry ricotta in it that some of us didn't like. The other pasta dish was a garganelli (similar to penne) with a wild boar ragu. This dish was so oversalted that I found it nearly inedible. If I cut through the salt, I could tell that the ragu had an interesting, meaty flavor. The pasta itself was also really nice. But the salt overwhelmed the dish.

We had two excellent wines that were available in carafes (about 2.5 glasses per carafe) for about $18 each. One was a Malvasia Nera from Puglia that we all loved and ended up ordering a second carafe. It had that quintessential dark fruit and licorice flavor. The second was a Sicilian red whose name escapes me and is not listed on the website.

The main glitch that we experienced was that our waiter was never around. The restaurant was less than half full and there seemed to be a lot of waitstaff around. But long stretches would go by when our waiter was out of sight and it always seemed to coincide with when we wanted to order another course, were waiting for our food, or wanted to order more wine. (The food is prepared in a large area in the middle of the restaurant. So when the waiter was out of sight, he clearly wasn't able to see when our food was sitting there, ready to go.) For example, we ordered the meat and cheese plates first. They didn't arrive for at least 45 minutes. Since the restaurant wasn't that full, it is difficult to imagine that the kitchen was so backed up. Later, when we wanted to order the pasta dishes, we had to flag down another waiter because we couldn't find ours. Somewhat uncomfortably, when our waiter later appeared, we saw the manager appear to scold our waiter. He then came to apologize to us. None of this came close to ruining the evening. We had a great time, good food and good wine. As we were leaving, my parents commented that they didn't think this place would last much longer. I hope our experience with the service (and the wild boar ragu) were rare missteps and A Mano will be back to what seemed to have been a very good place.

Darren72 wrote:My parents, my wife, and I had a real nice dinner at A Mano last night, though there were a few minor glitches. This was my wife and my first visit. My parents have been a few times and noted that things have gone a bit downhill.

I was feeling the same way pre-flood. There was some talk of re-tooling post-flood and I was optimistic that things would improve. From your report, it sounds like they're still having a lot of the same problems.

The major problem I've been having with A Mano is that I feel like they've dumbed down a big portion of the menu, trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator rather than focusing on some lesser known (but well prepared) authentic Italian dishes. The touting of a lasagna in Men's Health magazine right on the menu doesn't give me much hope.

All that being said, their pizzas are still excellent.

Hmm...I haven't been here for several months, but I liked it then (especially the atmosphere, and the pizzas). Pretty good prices for its location, too.

Has it really gone downhill that much? I was planning on taking some out-of-town family here in a couple weeks.

For what it's worth, I did end up going there on Saturday with some out-of-town guests...and while our meal was decent, I do wonder how much longer the place can last. It was probably a quarter full at 7pm, and not much better by the time we left close to 9. Not exactly the lively atmosphere I was hoping for (but then, we got our fill at Underground Wonderbar afterward).

I had the special of halibut cheeks, which was tasty but a pretty small serving, and came atop some white beans that I liked a lot. Other diners in our group had pizzas (the mushroom/nut one and the prosciutto one) and the risotto of the day with, if I can remember correctly, salmon, English peas and mascarpone. I heard no complaints. All in all, it was a fine dinner, but I think I could've made a better choice in that general area for that price point.

jesteinf wrote:Bottom line, this place is fantastic.

Oh, how things have changed at A Mano.

The wife and I went for a quick dinner after a meeting tonight. The place was almost completely empty when we walked in at around 7. The menu has now been reduced to an unexciting mix of appetizers, pizzas, pastas, and an obligatory flat iron steak, roasted chicken, and whole fish. Gone are the more interesting things like crudo, cottechino, and the ribollito I described earlier. They still have a nice selection of salumi, but that's about the most interesting thing they have going.

We started with the "Chef's Antipasti Sampler", which was a mix of 3 different cold selections (a celery root salad, eggplant caponata, and baby octopus) that had obviously been prepared long before we ever walked in the door and then scooped out onto a platter for us to enjoy. Truffle oil dominated the celery root salad, while the other two mainly just tasted cold and salty. For our main course we split a pizza and tonight's special risotto. Our pizza was prosciutto di parma and arugula. The crust was fine, but the prosciutto had been cooked into the pizza. When using prosciutto as a topping with this style of pizza I'm a firm believer that the prosciutto should be added after the pizza is cooked. The arugula was bland, lacking any distinctive bite. The risotto had celery root, potato, and black truffle. Fine, but not very interesting, and a bit too mushy for my tastes.

What a shame. A Mano opened up with real promise but now appears to be just mailing it in. I don't expect A Mano to be around much longer, but even if it is I won't be going back.

jesteinf wrote:What a shame. A Mano opened up with real promise but now appears to be just mailing it in. I don't expect A Mano to be around much longer, but even if it is I won't be going back.

You read the tea leaves accurately, they close on Saturday.

Regards,

I may be the only one who mourns this place, but I found it a great lunch place, with an all-you-can-eat antipasti and soup bar ($9.95), decent thin crust pizza, and a reliable glass of wine. Their soup was always vegetarian (not easy to find these days). Once it was a chestnut soup; another time a celeriac soup. Delicious. It was one of my go-to new employee lunch places, with a little more character than Bin 36.

Franabanana wrote:I may be the only one who mourns this place, but I found it a great lunch place, with an all-you-can-eat antipasti and soup bar ($9.95), decent thin crust pizza, and a reliable glass of wine. Their soup was always vegetarian (not easy to find these days). Once it was a chestnut soup; another time a celeriac soup. Delicious. It was one of my go-to new employee lunch places, with a little more character than Bin 36.

You might want to check out La Madia up the street on Grand. Very close to A Mano in menu and quality (on Mano's better days), with some excellent lunch deals on pizza for two (if you can find a partner to share your lunch with you). Pleasant ambience, too, without the freneticism of, say, Quartino's.

http://www.dinelamadia.com/