"When I went to Venice , I discovered that my dream had become, incredibly but quite simply, my address." - Marcel Proust
(CHICAGO) -- Prosecco, a chic yet unpretentious white tablecloth restaurant in the heart of Chicago's River North gallery district, is now open at 710 N. Wells Street. Prosecco, a grape, a wine, and a DOC region, offers sophisticated, regional comfort foods from Italy's 20 regions, as well as the largest selection of Italian sparkling wine in Chicago. Diners will be attracted to Prosecco's inviting mix of fine food and fine wine graciously served in an art-filled space reminiscent of the faded, gilded beauty of Venice. Venice's famous Piazza San Marco has been called "The Drawing Room of Europe", and the partners of Prosecco have created a similar drawing room atmosphere in their new dining spot. Experiencing Chicago's first proseccheria is as easy, elegant and enjoyable as a glass of its namesake beverage.
Prosecco Food Menu
The dinner menu, by Executive Chef/Managing Partner Mark Sparacino, follows the season and offers the finest foods from all 20 regions of Italy. Winter 2008 highlights from the appetizer menu include Capesante con Brasato, a diver scallop stuffed with braised short rib of beef served on a bed of saffron risotto, shitake mushrooms and carrots; hearty soups like the Zuppa di Zucca, a pureed trio of squash with crispy pancetta and a drizzle of pomegranate créme fraiche, and several carpaccio and crudo dishes such as the Tris di Pesce, a trio of fish including ahi tuna seared blue with a blood orange and aged balsamic drizzle, a white tuna with white truffle oil topped with caviar and a spicy tartar of fresh and smoked salmon with lemon zest, dill and bottarga. Additional items such as Polpetti e Calamari Grigliati, Lumache alla Romano and Carpaccio d'Anatra join seven more delicious appetizers.
Salad selections include the del Bosco, with arugula, raspberries, shitake mushrooms, pine nuts, a goat cheese fritter and raspberry balsamic vinaigrette and the Avocado, with baby lobster tail, prawns, avocado, sweet pepper, scallion and basil oil with balsamic glaze. The Barbabietole offers roasted beets, asparagus, fennel, arugula and radicchio with a honey tangerine and Pinot Nero vinaigrette. Four other salads are offered including the Noci e Peri, the Tricolore and the Bufala.
House made pasta and risotto selections are plentiful and include the Orecchiette con Salsiccia e Rapini, disc-shaped pasta with sweet Italian sausage, broccoli rabe and a garlic-infused olive oil; the Gnocchi al Gorgonzola, spinach dumplings with a toasted walnut Gorgonzola sauce, and Cavatelli con Gamberi e Zafferano, ricotta dumplings with shrimp, asparagus, roasted red pepper and saffron broth. Risotto dishes include the Risotto Serenissima, arborio rice with lobster, Asiago cheese, Prosecco DOC and a touch of edible 23 karat gold. This dish, once enjoyed by 16th century Italian nobility, is one of the signature dishes of the restaurant. (Venice has often been referred to as "La Serenissima" through-out her storied history, serenissima meaning "the most serene" in Italian.) A house made ravioli and risotto creation are offered nightly to complete the dozen pasta and risotto dishes.
Fresh fish selections include the Spigola Agrodolce, a Mediterranean striped bass with sweet pepper, Sicilian cherry tomato, olives, capers and golden raisins; the Capesante con Prosecco DOC e Vaniglia, a diver scallop with spinach, shitake mushrooms, tomato and vanilla Prosecco reduction, and the Gamberoni in Crosta di Pistacchio, a pistachio-crusted jumbo prawn with roasted red pepper puree. The Zuppa di Pesce, Salmon con Lenticchie e Spinaci and the Tonno con Aceto Balsamico round out the fresh seafood category.
Game and meat selections are plentiful and include the Galletto Ripieno alla Papalina, a Cornish game hen stuffed with polenta, porcini, chestnut, mild sausage and black truffle (this dish was a favorite of the inhabitants of the Vatican City, hence the name Pope's Chicken), the Costoletta di Vitello al Cartoccio, a veal chop with caramelized onion, cremini mushroom and Prosciutto di Parma, baked in parchment paper, and the Costoletta d'Agnello, a full rack of lamb with red grape balsamic reduction.
Four other meat dishes round out the menu including the Costoletta di Maiale, a double pork chop with roasted red pepper and caramelized onion mashed potato, and the Filetto di Manzo, a fillet of beef with sun-dried tomato butter, and a caramelized shallot port wine reduction.
Desserts are all made in house and include a Zuccotto al Cioccolato, a mousse cake layered with zabaglione, whipped cream and bittersweet chocolate; the Profiterole della Nonna, gelato-filled house made pastry topped with bittersweet chocolate ganache and a new twist on Tiramisu with the delectable Italian dessert cake pan d'oro being used in place of lady fingers to make this perennial crowd pleaser. Five additional items complete the dessert category, including the Torta di Lava, a double chocolate cake with rosemary blood orange créme anglaise and the Torta di Mele, a baked apple layered pastry tart.
Bar menu offerings are much like those offered in Italian caffes, including tramezzini and toast, small sandwiches, including the classic from the Campania region, Mozzarella in Carrozza, a savory blend of fresh mozzarella and anchovy fried in a light egg batter. Dattero con Gorgonzola, combine the sweet flavor of Sicilian dates with Gorgonzola cheese and the delicate flavor of Prosciutto di Parma. A small pizzette with fresh mozzarella and Sicilian cherry tomatoes, plus four other selection round out the bar menu. Additionally, diners wishing to sit at the bar may order from the full dinner menu.
Prosecco Wine and Spirit Menu
Equally important to the Prosecco operation is the wine and spirit menu, in the careful hands of Wine Director Christian Fox Hood. The Prosecco wine list is divided into two major categories, sparkling and still wines. In the sparkling category a full 50 are offered, including the 1997 Brut Spumante Metodo Classico "Giulio Ferrari", an offering that is neither from the Prosecco di Valdobbiadene-Conegliano DOC, nor the Franciacorta area in Lombardia from where most of the metodo classico Italian sparklers hail. The vitner behind "Giulio Ferrari" honed his craft in Champagne, France for years, before returning with select chardonnay cuttings, to Trentino to create on of Italy's top sparkling masterpieces. Prosecco is proud to be one of the few restaurants in the nation to be able to offer this bottle to its patrons.
Other standouts include a Sicilian sparkler, a 2004 Brut Spumante Metodo Classico "Margo", from Scammacca. This rare wine, a blanc de noir, is made 100% from nerello mascalese and showcases the versatility of Italian wine makers when it comes to producing delectable sparklers in all regions of Italy. Finally, Wine Director Hood has managed to secure three different Prosecco di Cartizze, including the 2006 from Col Vetoraz, a rarely imported into the United States bubbly that comes from the "grand cru" region of the Prosecco DOC, know as the Cartizze. These wines are unique and have yet to be tried by many sparkling wine aficionados. It is the hope of the Prosecco team to elevate the entire Italian sparkling wine category to where they believe it belongs in its own right, not just as a less expensive version of the Champagnes of France.
The Prosecco mantra is that the sparkling wines of Italy (known since the 10th century) stand on their own -- both the whites and the reds -- and that they can be enjoyed not just as a brindisi (Italian for "toast") at the beginning of the meal, but through-out. To this end, several Italian sparkling wine dinners are being planned to showcase their flavor and versatility. Prosecco is truly, Chicago's and maybe the nation's first, proseccheria, a wine bar devoted to the enjoyment of Italian sparkling wine.
The still wines at Prosecco include as many as 100, from the super novas of the Italian wine world, to lesser known gems in a variety of price points. Highlights include a complex, age-worthy white wine from the Marche region of Italy (on the eastern seaboard), the 2004 Verdicchio Classico Riserva from Villa Bucci that has a depth not often credited to Italian white wines. On the red side, a 2003 Aglianico Del Vulture, "Titolo", from Elena Fucci shows the elegance possible in the southern region of Basilicata. While its neighbor, Campania, often steals the wine news from this part of Italy, wine maker Elena Fucci has brought much acclaim to a part of Italy not well-known to many in the American marketplace. In addition, the great wines from Piemonte and Toscana are well-represented including those from famous houses such as Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, La Spinette, and Gaja, for example.
In addition, Prosecco offers authentic Italian and European spirits, including limoncello, grappa, and a full range of aperitivi and digestivi, the bookends to a successful Italian repast. In addition to premium still and sparkling wines, a deep spirit menu, representing the finest, most esoteric libations available in Italy, offers Guests a taste of la dolce vita. And, in recognition of the trend to socialize without imbibing, Prosecco offers a list of boutique sodas, Italian and otherwise, as well as house made fresh juices festively served without alcohol.
Prosecco Interior Design
Interior designers and Managing Partners, Kathryn Sullivan Alvera, Stefania Sparacino and Jason Clark collaborated on the design of the space. They were inspired by their joint love of the beauty of Venice and the soft color of a glass of Prosecco. The main dining room, Le Salotto, is a lush, ethereal space, with golden walls, a mother of pearl colored ceiling with faded gilding, silk damask curtains and intricately carved shell mirrors that recall the sea-faring nature of Venice's claim to fame. Lighting is provided by ornately carved wooden Italian chandeliers and wall sconces washed in a soft golden color and capped with silk shades trimmed in fine passementerie. The focal point of the room is a hand crafted, antique mercury mirror-topped 35' long bar painted in the style of 18th century Venetian furniture -- the Venetians having elevated the craft of painted furniture to an art form once Marco Polo brought it back from China in 1283.
The color scheme for the bar was inspired by a shade of green in a painting by Caravaggio (Conversion of St. Paul) and features a beveled mirror crown with antique jewel tone-colored mermaid caryatids standing guard. The padded elbow rest, of cocoa brown-colored faux alligator adds a touch of comfort to a thing of beauty. The lion, the symbol of the city of Venice, is evident in the rust-colored lion head's door knockers that adorn the base of the bar. A small raised dining platform, enveloped in a wainscot of channel-quilted silk harlequin fabric, is punctuated by an 40" x 72" oil painting, "Attention to Detail", by noted Shanghai painter Mary Qian, whose focus has been on realism in the style of Rembrandt von Rijn.
The Doge's Room (a Doge was a ruler of Venice), complete with seating for 8 guests, is an intimate, three-walled enclave highlighted by ivory and gold silk drapery and padded silk walls. Lithographs of Ventians Doges and Dogaressas line the walls along with a gilded mirror and hand-painted corner cabinets filled with Murano glass decanters and antique grappa bottles. The ceiling is embellished with a silk lamp by Venetian impressario Mariano Fortuny.
The final dining area on the main level is known as the Piazza Dining Room. Adjacent to the main kitchen and ringed by a mahogany chair rail trimmed in golden colored braid, this room has a Chef's table patterned after an upscale custom home kitchen complete with vintage cabinets and a counter top and arched wall covered in San Siciliano granite. The bar height dining counter is fronted in quilted sage green leather, and 8 bar stools offer a fantastic vantage point on the workings of the Prosecco kitchen. Filled with antique kitchenware and luscious foodstuffs from the Italian heartland, the Piazza Dining Room is capped by a skylight embellished with ornate trim work and rosettes.
Hours of Operation
Prosecco is open Monday through Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Thursday & Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The bar will be open until midnight on a nightly basis.
Reservations are warmly welcomed and can be made by calling 312.951.9500 or by logging on to Opentable.com.
