Thanks to my viewer Farsinji, we hooked up a meal at Riccardo Trattoria and had a taste of this Mom and Pop Italian restaurant in Chicago. How does this meal compare with the rest of the Chicago food that we ate?
The Video Review
The free bread had a nice herby flavor that they gave oil to dip in. Fairly standard at an Italian restaurant.
The Pork Maialino (bacon wrapped pork in a sauce with risotto) was saved by the bacon. The bacon created a nice texture as well as creating that salty and savory flavor that people love. The risotto was nice and creamy and worked well when taken with the sauce.
The Bucatini Carbonara was a fairly standard al dente pasta dish without the peas. A standard standard and if you like carbonara, the dish won’t disappoint.
The star dish of the night was the Fried Calamari. The calamari was lightly breaded, crisp and served with lemon wedges and a good spaghetti sauce for the dip. Not overpowering with the grease and quite flavorful.
If there was a second star for the night is would have to be the Rigatoni Butera. A nice bit of cheese with sausage and peas over a nice penne like pasta. The flavor was good and enjoyable.
But to be fully honest, while this restaurant was a nice place to eat a dinner, I would start with the more iconic foods of Chicago as they were truly a great flavor combination.
