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| - Dined here for the first time with by husband last night and had a near-flawless experience. We live two buildings away and I love Italian so I'd been wanting to try Chinato for some time, but the menu is a little pricey. They were offering a $30 prefixe menu for restaurant week, so I knew this was my chance to try it guilt free!
We dined on a Tuesday night around 630. We made reservations, which at first seemed unnecessary as the restaurant wasn't very crowded but it started to fill up shortly after 7 so I was glad we did. The hostess welcomed us warmly, saying that she was glad we chose to dine with them tonight. It could have been cheesy, but felt very sincere. She gave us the option of dining in the lounge/bar or the larger dining room. We actually chose a booth in the lounge because it was less crowded and had romantic decor - we are newlyweds so this seemed important.
The bartender was our waiter and he was wonderful. Attentive throughout the night, even when the bar filled up and he had other tables. Our glasses were never empty and each course was timed perfectly to come out shortly after the next (a tricky task as I am known to be an epically slow eater).
The food was so amazing and comforting without being too heavy. The pre fixe menu offered a choice of appetizer, main, and dessert. As my appetizer I had the prosciutto and parmesan croquettes. There was a small morsel of prosciutto hidden in the center of a creamy parmesan, all in a perfectly fried breading. I have no idea how they achieved the texture and complex flavor in those little morsels with just three ingredients, but they were heavenly. I hope this is on the regular menu as I'd love to order it again. My hubby had the butternut squash soup, which he said he'd get again.
For the main meal, I chose the chicken parmesan over mashed potatoes with greens. I've had a lot of chicken parm, but never with such a satisfyingly crunchy breadcrumb crunch. The perfect amount of sauce and good quality mozzarella topped it off. The mashed potatoes were the perfect texture and a nice compliment to the chicken. The greens were greens. My hubby had pork shoulder over bacon polenta and deemed it very tasty. I almost never finish my dinner and I cleaned the plate!
The pistachio cheesecake rounded out the meal. I rarely order dessert and usually take one or two bites then share the rest, but I kept this entire plate to myself! It reminded me of a pistachio pudding dish that my mom used to make for pot lucks, which upped the comfort level. It was creamy and smooth, minimal sweetness and lots of pistachio flavor. Would honestly go back just to order this for dessert!
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