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| - At the time of our visit, SOLO Trattoria has barely been open 6 months. It is located in an upscale business complex of beautiful, tall buildings and surrounded by high end hotels and condos and other restaurants. The restaurant is a bit tricky to find, but if you let GPS do its job and you park your car in the parking structure behind the buildings, you will find a map near the elevator to steer you to their location inside the complex. The restaurant will validate your ticket.
This family-owned trattoria has a nice history of restaurant experience in the Chicago area. A charming, intimate venue, the menu is small and developed with seasonal considerations. The servings are on the small side too, but are intended to be like tapas, satisfying without feeling overstuffed.
A very talented chef, Chef Craig apparently is a guy who loves to play with his food. He creates great complex sauces, has beautiful platings, works with local ingredients, and devotes a lot of time to making his dishes unique and from scratch. The restaurant owners, chef, our very professional server, Debbie, and the remainder of staff were all helpful and friendly, a welcoming vibe with great possibilities.
We were encouraged to let the chef show off by going with his tasting menu. An excellent deal, you make a choice of either 3, 4 or 5 courses. We decided on a 4 course dinner @ $40 pp (that means $10 each course). Since there were two of us, this meant we got to share 8 different dishes, no duplications. Mr. B also went with the wine pairing option. He was given 4 glasses of wine, each selected for his 4 platings, a decent pour with each, for an additional $20.
The Chef's Tasting played out like this.
Antipasti:
-Crisp Pork Belly on white beans and a hummus smear. Simple, tender, the three slices of belly were delicious and left me wanting more. Wine pairing- a Verdicchio that hinted of a Malvasia.
-Butternut Squash Soup topped with roasted pumpkin seeds and saba (a sweet syrup made from grape must). Complex flavors (unlike a very boring version I had the day before), my only complaint was it was slightly overly salted. It really was a lovely soup.
Pasta:
-Malloreddus (a Sardinian Gnocchi made with semolina) -This had a pomodoro sauce with a judicious amount of Schreiner's Italian sausage, topped with arugula and pecorino. I loved the sauce. So, so rich, the sausage ingredient was also perfect. While not a fan of this gnocchi, my main complaint was again the degree of salt. Wine pairing - a Rose.
-Spaghetti alla Chitarra - a thick spaghetti noodle tossed in a white sauce that was seasoned with white pepper and Grana Padana. Simply loved it.
Entree:
-Braised Beef on a creamy risotto. A good dish, slow cooked to tenderness. Wish it were less lean, but that is a personal preference. Wine pairing - a Cabernet.
-Salmon on fennel lentils and seared Brussel sprouts. The salmon was served with a crispy skin and simply salted. Usually not into salmon skin, I was hooked this time. The salmon was perfectly cooked and was fresh tasting. The brussel sprouts, slightly too salty.
Dessert:
-Oatmeal Stout Panna Cotta. This was presented over a cranberry jam, then a house made Granola sprinkled on top. Good. Wine pairing - Lambrusco.
-Pumpkin Budino with whipped cream and a caramel bourbon sauce drizzle. A delicate spiced pudding cake, not unlike a soufflé. Yum. A nice ending.
I find it particularly amusing that I would be passing on this word of advice considering I am one who loves a good salty snack and will reach for the salt shaker frequently. My advice would be to request the chef go more lightly on the
salt whenever possible. While far from unpalatable, his dishes could have been so much more satisfying if the diner could decide on the final salting at their table.
All in all, a nice romantic meal, but with minor set backs that are so easy to fix. It was auspicious to be introduced via Groupon. I made reservations using Open Table (got 1,000 points, folks), got an additional free dessert (they even made it to-go) by doing a Yelp check-in, and free parking. Good deal. 4.5 stars !
Post script: A day later, I dug into my take-home prize, the tiramisu (my free Yelp check-in dessert). There are many versions of tiramisu, and this one is one of the best, no cutting corners. Layers of a soaked light cake, mascapone, and deep rich espresso and coffee liquor flavors, but then, I am guessing. I am still regretting that I had to share it. Molto bene! Yes, Yelp friends, this is a must try!
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