Piccolo Sogno

[DutchMuse]

We had a perfectly nice meal here tonight. It was with great enthusiasm we went here, having loved our neighborhood restarant Le Madri in Chelsea (NYC). It was owned by Pino Luongo, the godfather of all Cocco Pazzo type restaurants, of which this is an offspring. Since Piccolo Sogno is a 3 minute drive from our apartment in Chicago, we were excited to go here tonight.

The Berkel slicer, with a beautiful leg of prosciutto di parma on it, set the tone for excitement upon arrival. So did the GM making the laps around the dining room.

My cocktail was prepared perfectly, as was my partner's. I started with the prosciutto with figs, which was just right--sliced tissue thin, just perfect. My partner had the prosciutto (not parma) with the burrata, which was delightful. I then proceeded to have the "straw and hay" with veal ragu; again, a lovely dish. My partner had the 4 cheese ravioli which, again, were beautiful. For main courses, my partner had the braised short ribs which he said were sadly plain. I tasted them, and I apologize, but the words that came from my mouth were "pot roast from K Mart." Boringly bland. The server inquired as to the dishes, and he said it was quite bland, so she took it back and it was returned 5 minutes later over a bed of potato puree with a jus on top. Better. I had the porchetta which was quite nice. In all, a B meal. I was quite satisfied.

I think the restaurant has a lot going for it. But it could benefit from being a bit more adventurous. It is as if we went to Le Madri and selected the "safest" dishes from the menu and offered only those on a given night. Perfectly fine, but I'd like the chef to stretch his (I saw him at the end of the evening, so I know 'he' is a man) muscles.

Lots of promise. Now go out the edge a bit and flex your muscles some.

[Alex]

Piccolo Sogno has a lovely patio, an oasis in the middle of their primarily industrial area. A huge picture of it is on their home page.