-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 My wife and I just returned home from a delightful dinner at "Cafe Stefano: cucina italiana" at 2275 Rand Road (just South of Lake-Cook Road) in Palatine (847-359-6220). This restaurant is in the building formerly occupied by L'Amourette. After L'Amourette went out of business, there was another restaurant with a Franco - Mexican menu. I tried to eat there three times. They were closed the first two, and out of business the third. Now, this cozy spot (seating about 70) is a wonderful Italian restaurant. In a relatively crowded cuisine (lots of competition), an Italian restaurant really needs to stand out these days. Stefano certainly does. Where so many Italian restaurants these days rely on lots of size and lots of noise, Cafe Stefano relies on excellent food in a quiet, intimate (almost homey) atmosphere. Cafe Stefano has been open just over a week, and does not yet seem to have been "discovered". Ahead of the arrival of our order, we were served some wonderful warm Italian bread. Our dinner started with the ($6.25) "Vitello Tonnato", Thin slices of veal topped with blended fresh tuna and caper sauce on mesclun salad. My wife said that she had seen this prepared a few times on cooking shows on TV, and had always wanted to try it. On those shows, she reports that the sauce was very liquid. The sauce at Cafe Stefano was much more substantial, more like a spread than a sauce. The veal was sliced about as thin as one could imagine it being sliced. Bites that contained both the veal / tuna and the salad caused the flavor of the entire dish to change. The use of fresh tuna in the preparation is a real plus, compared to what I could imagine a preparation made with canned tuna might be like. I followed with the day's soup ($2.95), cream of broccoli. Although a bit salty for my taste, it was salted just right for my wife. All in all, it was the closest I've found to my own (Excellent) version. For our main course, my wife ordered the ($8.95) "Maltagliate al Forno", Asymmetrical pasta tossed in a pink vodka sauce. The pasta noodles were so tender that they melted in the mouth. The sauce was delicious. Plus, there was a layer of melted mozzarella over the dish. If my wife hadn't ordered it, I would have. Naturally, I had many bites. I ordered the ($9.95) "Fettuccine Leggere", Chicken breast, sun dried tomato, artichoke, and black olives in a light asparagus sauce. The fettuccine was "al dente". The chicken was tender and flavorful. The sun dried tomatoes were the most tender and delicate I've ever had. Speaking later with Stefano (the chef / owner), we learned that they soak them for a couple of days to remove the "bite", so common with sun dried tomatoes, and to make them more tender. Since we wanted to try some desert, we had about half of our main courses wrapped to go. We couldn't stand to think of letting them go to waste. We shared a ($5) "Croccantino" for desert. According to Stefano, this dish originates in Bologna. It is a frozen dish, made with Marscapone (sp?) cheese, carmelized sugar, and walnuts. I'm sure there are some other ingredients in there, but they don't seem to be telling! Stefano says that they are the only restaurant in the Chicagoland area serving it. It alone is worth a special trip! Our bill totalled just under $40 (plus tip, we left about 20%). Appetizers range from $3.00 to $7.95, with most in the neighborhood of $5. Pasta dishes range from $8.95 to $12.95, with most in the $10-11 area. Meat / chicen / fish dishes range (with a fairly even distribution) from $10.95 to $14.95. Although we are not big drinkers, they do have what appears to be a full bar, and an extensive wine list, of which a few caught my eye (perhaps when we are there with more than just the two of us). Wine prices seemed to be at the reasonable end of restaurant wine list prices. The service was quite friendly. Stefano indicated that he hopes to spend a good deal of his time in the outer restaurant, providing a personal touch with the customers. The restaurant has been significantly redecorated since L'Amourette. The floors are now a beautiful hardwood. It was explained to us that the yellow walls are the color of the Italian villas after being painted, and the pale grey-green wall is the color of the areas between the main frescos on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Attractive paintings by Stefano and his sister hang on the walls. Currently, Cafe Stefano is open only for dinner: Sunday - Thursday 5-10pm, and Friday - Saturday 5-11pm. They are planning to begin Lunch hours in January, after his staff gets more "settled in". Chicago Magazine has a policy (last I looked) not to review a restaurant until it has been open at least 90 days, in order to be fair to a restaurant just getting started and having startup "glitches". In the case of Cafe Stefano, I saw no need to delay. We will be going back with friends soon. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.5.3 Comment: My Keys: 0x571B55BD and 0x628ECED2 available from keyservers iQA/AwUBNjaoQWasl5Jijs7SEQLhrACbBBQNucajyzO5Tsq5gC/G7K9fEwQAoMtd MxckfE3S+/8AIi6tLWBeXbjD =OeKd -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Chicago, IL