Tale of Two Bresaole: Trattoria D.O.C.

Tale of Two Bresaole: Trattoria D.O.C.

A few weeks ago, a few hours after getting off a plane in Rome, my first bite was of a pizza bresaola. Bresaola is air-dried beef, kind of like Parma ham in texture, and like prosciutto, cut thin. When put on pizza, it’s often paired with rocket (arugula), which is a killer combo: rich/bitter, musty/fresh, meaty/leafy, oily/dry, red/green, it tastes and looks great.

I have not had this type of pizza much, but I got it every time I could in Rome, and I jumped at the chance for some at Trattoria D.O.C last night. I dug it, but found the bresaola at this Evanston restaurant good…but different than what I had found in Italy.

Here’s how it was different: the bresaola at Trattoria D.O.C. seemed not as rich (i.e., fatty) nor as dry. It could be just the variety used, which may actually have been of “higher quality” (i.e., more expensive) than the same macerated meat I bought on the street in Italy. It also seemed more “red” (maybe less brownish from aging?), less salty, and softer, not so chewy. It tasted and looked, somehow, “Americanized” …though it’d be tough to objectively support that perception. I am not saying that one or the other was better, just different, and if I went back to Trattoria D.O.C., this is a pizza I would order again.

Trattoria D.O.C.
706 Main Street
Evanston
847-475-1111

Thanks for the report. I live 2 blocks from there and I told nr706 that I was going to nominate it for our next Evanston lunch...when I get around to it. I've been lax in my posting but this will spur me to it.

I have been lax in posting, as well. I was there last Sunday for a late lunch/scout trip. Had the patate e rosmarino pizza, and a Moretti. Great service, excellent food - and the leftovers were a heavenly breakfast on Monday. I liked it enough to invite my Designated Eater to join me there for dinner tomorrow; I turned him on to Candlelite's ultra thin crust, which he ha embraced with gusto, and I now feel the need to broaden his horizons just a bit more.

Will report in on our dinner ASAP.

I'll preface with the fact that I was in Sicily last week, and had some of the best pizza I'll ever have. So any review of Trattoria D.O.C. on Main St. in Evanston inevitably will be compared to my experience over there.

Breifly, the pizza, service and the place are OK and it's a nice addition to Evanston, but I won't be raving about it. Everything does feel a little unfinished, from the bare walls to the staff, so hopefully it will mature. I should note I seemed to hear many complaints from the other tables, mostly about cold, dry or bland food. I think some complaints might have been about not enough pasta sauce (see this thread for the facetious reference).

I could be picky about the service, but there really wasn't anything to be upset about. We were seated at a 2 top that seemed only slightly split from another couple, the server seemed slightly confused about serving both tables seperately. Maybe I was just slightly jealous, since the server on the other side of us explained the specials with style and was always uttering sincere prego's and grazie's while our server had a few pronounciation problems with menu items. This stuff I wouldn't have noticed or cared about if I hadn't just come back from Italy.

We had a decent Mozzarella and Prosciutto Roll, sprinkled with good balsamic (a special not on the menu) as an antipasta and ordered the Napoli pizza and the Porcini e Salsiccia pizza.


Mozzarella and Prosciutto Roll


Napoli pizza


Porcini e Salsiccia pizza

The Napoli pizza (with anchovies and capers) had a perfect wood fired crust, but was watery on the top. I don't mind oily, but some more moisture should have been baked out of the cheese. Generous anchovies and just the right amount of sauce to mozzarella ratio for me.

A had a decent but ugly panna cotta and my tablemate had a Nutella tart that was dry and in definite need of some sauce of some sort or perhaps a scoop of gelato (which I should have tried, just for comparision with what I had in Sicily and Rome). Cappuccino didn't have much of a kick. (I know, I know, no cappuccino after breakfast but I'm in America now.)


Panna Cotta


Nutella Tart

Had I tried this Trattoria D.O.C. a few weeks ago, I might have raved about the pizza, which is the type I've been looking for in Chicago for awhile, but now I'll always be looking for better. I'll go back in a few weeks when my expectations drop a bit.

David Hammond wrote:Parma ham in texture, and like prosciutto

Does anyone know of a place
to get Prosciutto de San Danielle?
They used to have it here (in Indy)
at a place called Tarkington's,
but they went out of business.
Trying it side-by-side with the
Parma variety, there is no comparison.
San Danielle is so much more rich
and velvety, complex like a
40-yr-old Taylor-Fladgate port.

I'm pretty sure I've seen Prosciutto San Daniele at Fox and Obel before. In fact, I think I've seen at least 3 or 4 varieties of prosciutto there.

Good luck!

shannon

Does anyone know of a place
to get Prosciutto de San Danielle?

Whole Foods typically has it, as well as all the caputo's http://caputomarkets.com/

kiplog those are really good photos. they look professional.

edit on 7/04/06: just saw on kiplog's website that he is a professional photographer. Duh!

SCUBAchef wrote:...
Trying it side-by-side with the
Parma variety, there is no comparison.
San Danielle is so much more rich
and velvety, complex like a
40-yr-old Taylor-Fladgate port.

S,

I can certainly understand someone having a personal preference for San Daniele over Parma but I can also understand the opposite view; that said, they are both examples of the same style of prosciutto. The massive qualitative difference you perceive makes me wonder about the quality of the specific Parmese hams you've had and how they were handled, for on the basis of a lifetime of eating prosciutti of various types, I don't see any such massive difference. As the chief examples of the dolce style, I find them generally similar and, insofar as they are different (involving in my estimation subtle differences of flavour and texture), I favour the one for some applications and in some moods and the other for other applications and in other moods. What I am always inclined to marvel at is the remarkable consistency in quality that the producers of both achieve. Of course, one does on occasion encounter in the States hams that haven't been handled properly and therefore do not represent well the sort as a whole.

I have seen San Daniele at some of the Italian groceries, gourmet shops and salumerie in the Chicago area. My source has been Conte di Savoia on Taylor Street by Bishop, though I don't remember seeing it of late. Caputo's (mentioned above) and Riviera on Harlem by Belmont are other sources (I believe I've seen it at Riviera but I unfortunately haven't been to that shop in some time). Beyond that, I would be surprised if Fox & Obel doesn't have it; Whole Foods is, as mentioned above, another possibility, though for a long time they (at least the branch I visit) perversely wouldn't deign to carry prosciutto di Parma, which I took as a rather typical expression of their nouveau-semi-knowledgeable-onebetter-snobbism. I have no problem whatsoever with expressions of individual preference but any store that feels the need to strike a pose and look down on prosciutto di Parma is downright silly.

Antonius

I visited Trattoria DOC a few weeks ago and found the food to be up to the same standards as their Lawrence cousin, but service much much slower... at our table, one pizza was completely lost when putting in the order (of four dishes), and ultimatley it took nearly 45 minutes between our order being placed and our food arriving. Fortunatley, we were in no hurry, but still, a bit frustrating, having a dinner consisting of pizza and pasta take nearly 3 hours when figuring in the 45 minute wait for a table.

Granted, it was a saturday night, and within the first few weeks of them being open, but still... I'll give it another month or two before eating there when I'm in evanston.

I just went to tratoria DOC, and I have to say this is the best italian food I have had in america. having lived most of my life outside of america, I have never been able to find good italian food. this is really it - the type of food you get in a basic italian tratoria. maybe not the most fancy food, and the gelato isn't fantstic, but the pasta was very good, as was the salad I had. I will be going back to try the pizza.

We went as a family the other day; the 3 of us had pasta: Sparky had the penne with tomato sauce, I ordered the fresh artichoke and arugula salad and had tagliatelle with pesto, and I forget the other dish entirely.

I found the salad to be quite interesting, well dressed and fresh - rare to find uncooked artichokes in anything however young. It was a study in contrasts of the flavor bitter; the arugula with it's peppery bitterness, and the artichoke with its softer version, along with nutty parmesan.

The pastas, however, struck me as being unseasoned - as though the water wasn't salted when it was cooked. I liked the pesto sauce, and the tomato was passable.

We had an absolutely incredible dessert that I would definitely go back for; a zabaglione semifreddo with a caramelized nut crust (I forget exactly what they called it) It was amazing - and enough for all three of us. Unfortunately, our espresso drinks never made it to the table, but the waiter was appropriately apologetic and did what he could. I think the service will improve as they work the kinks out; certainly the intent is there.