Mamma Mia, What a Mess! La Fontanella

Mamma Mia, What a Mess! La Fontanella

Last night, the Wife and I went to La Fontanella to celebrate our anniversary. I am rarely shocked by much of anything anymore, but I swear by St. Cucina, Patron Saint of Italian Cooking, this meal pushed the limits of belief.

We started with mussels, which were actually the high point: plump, fresh, and generally flavorful, but get this: they were priced at $8.50 for 10 mussels. 85 cents a mussel is out of line as was a moderate pour of jug red wine for $6.00. Baked artichoke hearts which were similarly priced came with about 8 canned (!) artichoke heart halves covered with nondescript cheese and some Italian herbs. Am I expecting too much here? It’s not like I was paying Spiaggia prices, but for what I got, and considering the place where I got it, I felt taken.

While we waited in fear for our entrees to arrive, we had some Zwieback-like bread, warmed to the point of carbonization.

The best that can be said about the braciole is that it was inoffensive. I’ve long been a fan of braciole from Jimmy’s Place in Elmwood Park, and that dish at that place has its detractors, but if you did a side-by-side of both you would conclude that Jimmy’s version is ambrosial by comparison. This was the flattest tasting flat steak I ever had, with indistinct ingredients (excepting the toothpick the cook was nice enough to leave poking out of the meat) and vacant sauce.

I’d heard about the veal, so we got veal al limone, and it came, I kid you not, with previously frozen green beans. When I drop $20 bucks for what amounted to four-five thin slices of veal, I expect something more than Sisco’s on the side. The last time I saw green beans like this was in a school cafeteria. And the sauce on the veal tasted quite definitely Campbell’s inspired (I doubt it was actually canned, but it’s a special kind of chef who can achieve that level of salty rankness in a house-made sauce).

For a good laugh, I checked the wine list. The wines by the bottle are in the $30-45 range and then they jump to two bottles a $450 and $550.

Down the street from the lauded Bruna’s, and across from the much more worthy Bacchanalia, it’s a wonder a place like La Fontanella is allowed to exist. It has received minimum coverage in Chicago media, CH and LTH, and my guess is that those who ate there merely hoped to flush the experience as quickly as possible and not relive it by reporting upon it.

La Fontanella
2414 S Oakley
773-927-5249

I think that what has happened, from David's post about a present-day La Fontanella, is the direct result of a slow erosion of what was once a great blast-from-the-past neighborhood.

From my first visit to Bacchanalia in 1980, Oakley St. reminded me at once of a much smaller version of Mulberry St. in New York or Hanover St. in Boston. Out-of-town clients of mine would revel in the old-world charm. It's still nice now, still contains a couple formidable restaurants, but the feeling just isn't there any more. The houses around Oakley St. aren't quite as kept up as before, when they were neat as a pin. So the good restaurants survive (Bruna's, Bacchanalia) & others close up (Febo, Toscana).

And La Fontanella used to be pretty darn good. Their arancini was to die for...

David Hammond wrote: 8 canned (!) artichoke heart halves

Ché embarassment.

And in the spring, yet.

Somewhere, a grandmother spins in her box.

Giovanna

IIRC the chef/owner of the late Bella Domani and/or her family at one time owned La Fontinella. Bella Domani made a specialty of arancini.. I suspect the great arancini were from the period when Sylvia was in the kitchen.

David Hammond wrote: Baked artichoke hearts which were similarly priced came with about 8 canned (!) artichoke heart halves covered with nondescript cheese and some Italian herbs.

jnm123 wrote: From my first visit to Bacchanalia in 1980, Oakley St. reminded me at once of a much smaller version of Mulberry St. in New York or Hanover St. in Boston.

Perhaps it's no accident, then, that I had the artichoke dish Hammond describes on Hanover Street in Boston during a visit there several years ago.

ekreider wrote:IIRC the chef/owner of the late Bella Domani and/or her family at one time owned La Fontinella. Bella Domani made a specialty of arancini.. I suspect the great arancini were from the period when Sylvia was in the kitchen.

I couldn't get a menu to go, so I can't check for sure, but my recollection is that there are no arancini on the menu any longer. I guess that's no surprise.

Yeah, they look so good on paper, but they two times I tried them I was underwhelmed. To say the least.

Bella Domani made a specialty of arancini.. I suspect the great arancini were from the period when Sylvia was in the kitchen.

That was my experience, too, at La Fontanella many years ago, and I haven't had arancini as good in Chicago since. In those days you would go to LF for Italian food with a Sicilian/S. Italian touch, to Toscana for a taste of Tuscany, and Bruna's for the flavor of Emilia-Romagna. In fact, I had my first taste of Chicken Vesuvio at LF, and being new to Chicago then, I assumed it was a Neapolitan specialty. Little did I know . . .

Josephine wrote:

David Hammond wrote: Baked artichoke hearts which were similarly priced came with about 8 canned (!) artichoke heart halves covered with nondescript cheese and some Italian herbs.

jnm123 wrote: From my first visit to Bacchanalia in 1980, Oakley St. reminded me at once of a much smaller version of Mulberry St. in New York or Hanover St. in Boston.

Perhaps it's no accident, then, that I had the artichoke dish Hammond describes on Hanover Street in Boston during a visit there several years ago.

Josephine,

Truth be told, many mid-level Italian joints probably resort to canned artichoke hearts. Handling fresh ones can be somewhat labor intensive, and I'd guess most consumers consume canned hearts. It's possible that "real" hearts (meaning bought fresh, cooked, de-leaved and de-spiked in house) might even taste or feel "funny" to some customers.

Few months ago, we had fresh hearts in some baked preparation at La Scarola, and both The Wife and I commented upon them...because they're kind of rare, unfortunately.

Hammond

The last time I went to La Fontanella was shortly after my wife came home from the hospital with my daughter, almost 20 years ago. Can't remember the meal, but I will always remember the moment.

Since then I have only observed the place, and noted that it has been closed at least two or three times, and then reopened. Since no one ever posted on it, and there were other acceptable alternatives, I have not gone back (BTW, Oakley Street looks pretty good compared to my other recent Italian meals elsewhere in the Midwest, look for Cleveland and Detroit posts, if curious), and now I do not need to. Thank you, David.

I enjoy Freddy's Arancini from time to time. (Freddy's Pizza, 16th Street in Cicero, see GNR).