Matto Fornaio - neighborhood bakery in Lakeview East

Matto Fornaio, for those who might not have noticed the tiny storefront while ducking onto Briar to circumvent traffic or shortcut to from Broadway to Halsted, is an "Italian-inspired sweet & savory bakery" in the Lakeview East neighborhood.

I'd had their unique (to me, at least) polenta cookies in the past after my wife brought them home one day, and enjoyed them - subtle sweetness, generous olive oil flavor, great texture (not too soft, but not brittle) - but had never been to the shop itself. So yesterday while out for a walk, I jumped at the suggestion to skip our old standby (expensive coffee at Intelligentsia) in favor of sampling some pastries instead.

I got a strawberry basil panna cotta for myself, but our 19-month-old girls enjoyed it so much that they polished it off...the two spoonfuls that I did try were light, creamy, smooth, and tasted of fresh strawberries with subtle hints of basil that gave a feeling of "green-ness" to the dessert. My wife loved both the rich, cheesy crust and fresh fruit filling of her apple gruyere tart.

Since the kids ate my dessert, I made it up to myself with a cannolo, which I couldn't have been happier with. It was filled to order with mascarpone filling that was light yet rich and flavored with chocolate and orange essence, the ends, sprinkled with crushed roasted pine nuts, and topped with a single, proper maraschino cherry (if it wasn't a Luxardo, then it was made in-house).

I really appreciated that the desserts we tried were not overly sugary...they were sweetened in a way that seemed to balance with and emphasize the flavors of their ingredients.

A bonus was that, after having a generous slice of tart, a cup of panna cotta, a cannolo, a can of San Pellegrino blood orange soda, and a little bottle of Sanbitter, we left with change for our twenty

A nice-sized selection of savory items - pepperoni bread pudding caught my eye in particular, but a ricotta tart with what appeared to be spinach looked very good as well - and a few varieties of bread were also available, and they both serve Metropolitan coffee and sell it by the bag (for only a quarter more than Whole Foods). They also sell fresh-made pasta, and whole pies and larger-sized tarts/pastries to order.

The woman behind the counter, who was also co-proprieter and a baker, was friendly, welcoming, helpful, and very proud of both the business and the products she was selling.

I look forward to returning to Matto Fornaio many times in the future for breakfasts, to pickup items for dessert, and to sneak cannoli as I'm passing by.

Matto Fornaio
613 W. Briar Pl. (just west of Broadway)
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 883-4411
(their Twitter feed has more info on it, so I'm including it here)