Riva Naperville

New entry in the" can you eat in an upscale restaurant in Naperville on Saterday night before 9:30 sweepstakes". Phil Stefani group has opened up a Riva outpost in an office building at I-88 and route 59 as of last Thursday. I was planning to come downtown from Glen Ellen Saurday night, but the eastbound traffic left much to be desired. Switched gears and tried to go to Nville. Catch 35 and Hugo's Frog Bar had nothing untill 10:00 ( it was 5:15 at the tme of calls). Random internet searches anounced the new Riva so I took a shot. &:15 table for two available.

Random thoughts:

1. Room itself was modern, stark andwell appointed. Wall of windows overlooking a small pond or expressway. Fast cars with lights looks kind of neat.

2. Because this retaurant is not in downtown naperville, you may be able to get in easier ( or maybee not).

3. Two small diver scallop app, wrapped in bacon, toped with micro greens and a light sauce perfectly cooked and pleasently seasoned but a bit rough on the wallett at thirteen dollers.

4. Lobster bisque. Rich yet light, not as etherially creamy as some( which I prefered) overall solid soup.

5. Seared tuna entree. Crisp and well seasoned on the outside, less than a quarter inch of "cooking" sliced into about five huge medalions. server over sesame soba noodles with ginger and wasabi. Perfectly executed, outstanding. Do not miss this.

6.Lobster Fra Diavalo. Do not order this very often, but I was in a strange mood. Normal size portion of fetuchine lightly dressed in a red pepertomatoe sauce with crab meat topped with a tiny whole lobster. Just enough sauce to gently coat the noodles. Possibly to much red pepper for some, not for me though. waiter offered to deshell for me, which I accepted preventing another ruined dress shirt. I loved the dish except that the crab was overwhelmed by the spice.

7. Waiter touted some kind of crab cannoloni topped with halibut and spinach that seemed like way to much going on, but apparently is a special from navy pier


overall solid if unexciting meal for a solid payment-- no desert or coffee, two eight doller glasses of wine -- $118 including tip


2020 Calamos Court
Naperville, IL
630.718.1010

Babaluch

Thanks for the info...Sounds as though they are located in the new Calamos Investments building, which is supposed to be architecturally interesting (at least that's what they've told IIT alums). Good to know that there's another local choice. I predict that it will be an easier to get into, less crowded option (than the others you mentioned) because of its non-downtown location.

Didn't see much on Riva in the past couple of years....

I am in the process of planning a 65th birthday for my mom in April. Since we have not dined at the Naperville lcoation, I thought I would take a look at it before deciding on where to go. I stopped by on Saturday afternoon, well before the V-day rush. My wife and I were looking at the room they had available for the party and the Chef came out to talk with us for about 10 minutes.

It was a really great gesture on their part. They seem to very accomodating and Chef David Sapp seems more than willing to customize a menu for a part of 20.

I will post with an update after the party.

KevinT

On Saturday, we had my mom's 65th birthday party for 19 at Riva in Naperville. I am not associated with the restaurant in any manner, and wanted to let everyone know what a wonderful experience we had through the whole process.

Chef David Sapp customized the menu for us and overall it was one of the best parties our family has ever had. Riva's GM and catering manager were first class. Nowhere through the process did we hear "No" or "We can't do that".

To start, we had chicken sopes, braised oxtails petit fors, avacado bruschetta, and back wrapped figs. These were passed and presented wonderfully with micro greens. I personally could have eaten these four selections all night. For the soup cource we had a great carrot bisque which was created off menu for our party by Chef Sapp and was smooth an creamy. The salad was a panzanella salad with mixed greens, which was nice and refreshing. The main course was a selection of pork loin with fig jam, salmon with spinach and a citrus vinagrette and chicken with a sweet wine sauce. The portions were generous and well balanced. The wine selectiosn were well chosen and the prices of the wines were resonable.

The waitstaff was wonderful and Jim, one of our waiters, even went as far as to cut my 88 year-old grandmother's pork when noticing that she needed assistance. Service was attentive and glasses were never empty on the table.

It is a great modern space in Naperville and they have some great live music to compliment the evening. I would definitly recommend the restaurant.

KevinT

Riva has never made it onto my radar for some reason. Can't be the location, as it is minutes from my office and I have made it to Sugar Toad twice. Guess I really should go, see, taste.

I am feeling out of sorts for fine dining in N'ville, these days anyway. David's Bistro is quite good if one can avoid the over-salted dishes. Sugar Toad has the opposite issue - everything seems underseasoned. Isabella's and Vie were my go-to places, but neither is that convenient to N'ville, and now Isabella's is really inconvenient, being closed and all.

The whole Catch 35 vibe sets my teeth on edge, and Hugo's does some stuff okay, and I like the room, but the food is very simple, and I have found their seafood preparation very uneven. I guess Pier 34 is my favorite, but only because the seafood is good and they almost always get it cooked right - as to aspiration, their preparations make Hugo's look wildly ambitious.

Tried to go to Sequel last week, only to discover it had closed.

So I am feeling lost in a desert of dining. Any other tips besides Riva?

Just for future search options,

Riva Naperville is closed.

I was researching places in the Suburbs Culinary Wasteland thread in which I found this thread.

Found this with additional research: http://www.stefanirestaurants.com/riva_naperville.htm

Went by yesterday and saw it was renamed something like "City Pointe Grill" with that Calamos building nameds something like "City Pointe Centre"

Just an FYI