Aldino's

With suprisingly little fanfare and zero LTH discussion, Dean Zanella (ex 312Chicago chef) and Scott Harris (Francesca's, Purple Pig, Nella Pizzeria) opened Aldino's last week. It's a modestly-priced Italian restaurant with a large space catering to the diverse and heavy traffic of students, hospital workers and neighborhood folks in the area. Zanella is known among the Green City Market crowd and others as an advocate of local, seasonal cooking, and that - along with classic Italian recipes - is the Aldino menu's focus.

Our meal started with house-baked focaccia, which was dry and stale-tasting. This being a very new restaurant, I expect growing pains and often try my best to provide constructive feedback to the staff. When I told the server about the bread, he immediately replaced it with a fresher batch, explaining that it is baked in house daily, and the busboy had accidentally brought over yesterday's batch. Why yesterday's focaccia was still hanging around I don't know, but I appreciated the replacement, which tasted better.

I liked the sound of lots of things on the menu, especially the pastas. The linguine with clams did not disappoint - the pasta was perfectly cooked, the clams were decent, and the flavor of the sauce was excellent. Sauteed cod with fregola (small Italian pasta, not unlike Israeli couscous) wasn't quite as enjoyable, as I thought the large quantity of strong tomato sauce overwhelmed the fish.

There's promise here. The initial visit didn’t leave me anxious to return quickly, but I won't be surprised if Aldino's turns into a welcomed and welcoming restaurant.

Aldino's
626 South Racine Avenue
(312) 226-9300

After dining at Aldino's last night with my step mother, I agree with Kenny's thoughts about the place. There is promise, but as many things fell flat as succeeded.

The server was a bit odd. He was extremely enthusiastic, without being terribly informed. And, when asked questions he didn't know the answer to, he fumbled, trying to respond, rather than admitting that he didn't know. I usually like a chatty server, but he was a bit too chatty. When I asked about several different local beers on the draft menu, rather than answering my questions, he asked me if I, like he, am also a beer lover. It was all strange, but he got major points for trying and being friendly and still got a 20% tip.

Our foccacia was fine, but boring. It was nice to have something to nibble on as we perused the menu, but that was it.

We started with a bruschetta of ricotta, pancetta, and apple mostarda. Not memorable, but fine. The apple mostarda was a disappointment, tasting like apple butter with a bit of dry mustard added. The mustard added little, just a creeping heat (the kind you get from Chinese mustard). The bread was toasted, and must have been warm at some point. But the ice cold ricotta quickly cooled everything off. The pancetta was good and went with the other flavors - - but it wasn't enough to save the dish. I ate it, but wouldn't order it again.

We also tried the arancini filled with prosciutto and taleggio, over a grape salad. The salad was rather pathetic, appearing to be nothing more that mangled red grape bits. This wasn't good and added nothing to the dish. The best thing about the arancini is that they were served piping hot. I could barely detect the prusciutto. The taleggio was nice, but I would've liked it better if they used more of it - - there was almost no funk.

After hearing that I was interested in olives, but my companion wasn't, the server delivered a nice plate of olives on the house. This was a nice touch, and much appreciated. The olives were good (three different kinds), although nothing unusual.

We also shared a pasta dish, my favorite dish of the evening: squid ink chitarra, braised calamari, tomatoes, and pangrattato. Good stuff, and with some nice heat from red peppers. In fact, the spice level was high enough that I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned on the menu because a spice-averse diner would be miserable. The calamari were done well, flavorful and tender. The pangrattato added some nice texture, and the pasta was well-cooked. This dish was richer than I'd expected and was perfect for sharing as I think an entire plate for one would be a bit much. I'd happily order this again.

Finally, we shared the seared arctic char with crispy brussel sprouts, fingerling potatoes, and preserved lemon. This was decent. The fish, while not overcooked, was slightly mushier than I would've liked. But, the ample use of lemon throughout the dish was welcome as all components tasted good with the lemon juice and olive oil. The veggies were perfectly acceptable.

Bottom line: I won't be running back. I might if I lived in the neighborhood, but given Aldino's distance from home and work, this will likely be my only visit.

Ronna

Some high points from a recent dinner:

The charred octopus antipasto: nicely charred yet still very tender, dressed in a refreshing citrus-oil dressing: needed additional focaccio to sop it all up

The squid-ink chitarra: this is really an excellent flavorful dish as mentioned above, and not one you're likely to find many places elsewhere. A candidate on my "better things eaten this year" list.

I'm not typically a grappa fan; I usually find it overly harsh and its alcohol flavor overwhelming everything else. But Aldino's homemade fig grappa was wonderful, smooth with an essence of fig in the background, comparable to some of the better plum brandies I've had.

No complaints about everything else--and the clams in the linguine this night were particularly succulent--but the above are real keepers, and the only thing that would prevent me from ordering them again are some additional inticing choices on the menu (e.g.., pheasant sausage, gnudi, ravioli stuffed w/ goat cheese & asparagus). Will be back (particularly if I could ever figure out the parking logistics in the area).