Things I Like - Food

We went out to dinner with my sister Leslie and our friends Jerry & Kevin the week before our recent trip. It was a fabulous dinner with great company at one of my favorite Chicago restaurants – Prosecco.

Have you been there? Walking in I’m never sure if the design team is doing a tongue in cheek knock off of the old school Italian restaurant where everything is covered in gold or if they’re actually trying to recreate one. Regardless, it works – the space is elegant without being stuffy and there are some quirky touches to make you smile (the David photo collage on the bar wall is great fun).

The menu is perfect – enough options to make everyone happy (even vegetarians) without being overwhelming. My favorite are the pastas (the gnocchi are house made) which come in both appetizer and entrée portions. I’ve been known to do both in the same meal. I’m not a big Italian dessert fan, but the other night we shared a couple including a ricotta cheesecake that I wanted to lick all over to keep others at the table from eating. I spent the next day on-line trying to find a recipe for it; I see much trial and error in my cooking future.

Here’s the strange thing - I’ve dined at this restaurant, which opened in December 2007, close to 10 times now. And every single time, whether I’m with girlfriends, alone with Mr. White, or with a group; during the week or on a weekend; the sommelier has been the server for my table. Isn’t that odd??

Not that I’m complaining – far from it. In addition to knowing the menu well, he is an excellent sommelier, able to adjust his suggestions based on the knowledge and interest of the diners without being annoying. And it is clear that he has a real love for the grape. I went a while back with a couple girlfriends who are huge wine buffs and the detailed conversation that went into selecting the wines would have frightened many – they seriously discussed what hillside of some valley in the Piedmont region a certain Barolo was from (I must confess to reaching a point where I wanted to shout “just pick a freaking wine already” but it was clear that the three of them were having a great time so I held off.)

Christopher (thank you Leslie for asking his name) is also happy to restrict his assistance to suggesting a couple options from the list or helping you choose between 2 or 3 that you are considering. Speaking of options, what a great wine list! As might be expected, there is a fairly big selection of sparkling wines, but there’s also an amazing selection of Italian wines, organized by region and varietal with many options at the $40 - $50 price point. I’ve tasted at least 15 different wines here and every single one was a winner.

If you haven’t been there yet, I highly recommend a visit soon. Did I mention that they pour a half glass of prosecco when the table is seated? You just know that dinner is going to be good.


Photo at top from CandidCandace