Restaurant Review: Osteria Di Tramonto, Chicago

Osteria Di Tramonto The Westin Chicago North Shore
601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Wheeling, Il 847 777 6570

Chicago is my favorite city in the United States. Tuscany is my favorite part of Italy. The chef and general manager of this outstanding restaurant have tried to bring the best of Italian cooking to this great restaurant. The chef travels to Italy several tines a year and gathers products and ideas to perfect his menu and cooking. It was all working perfectly on this evening. The large and tastefully decorated dining area was totally filled by 6:00p.m. You need a reservation well in advance and I suggest it is worth the wait and the trip to Chicago.
The dining area is open for breakfast featuring Italian specialties.e.g. Frittata,Baked Italian Open faced Omelet can be ordered d’Aosta style served with smoked ham, potato, sautéed spinach, and fontina or Caprese style with roasted tomato, mozarello and basil.($10.95) The lunch menu offers salads, pizza, lunch entrees and pasta. Always you can find the Cheese-Italian Style and Salumi Boards. Cheese and salami choices vary from $5.95- $14.95.
I suggest that you plan to come for dinner to this outstanding restaurant. In fact you may even wish to book a room at the elegant Westin Hotel. Make a reservation and make a lot of room in your stomach for this fine dining.
Initially the server brought a fine quality bread to the table. An antipasti plate of chick peas, onion and delectable herbs was presented for out pleasure. A plate of the finest olive oil had special cured olives infused with lemon. We hadn’t even started and we were delighted.
My family chose the Pasta Special ($11.95) to share as a starter. The linguini was as fine as any in Italy. It was so perfectly al dente. The pasta was infused with pecorino cheese, olive oil and fresh perfectly cooked asparagus. We all agreed that this was the finest possible. Delicious! Delectable! So tasty! I ordered the Capellini With Shrimp as my main course. Once again the pasta was perfect. The shrimp were firm and tasty. The sauce was piquant to my liking.($10.95 half- $16.95 full) There are many pasta selections available. The Durum wheat is stone ground and combined with mountain spring water. The resulting pasta is dried under the Italian sun. It s hand crafted by Guiseppe Coco in Fara San Martino in Abruzzo. I know that I have never tasted pasta like this in North America.
My daughter-in-law ordered The Crab Special (23.00) served on a bed of fresh and delicious greens. For a main course my son chose Ricky T’s Braised Short Rib. Potato puree and a red wine sauce completed the dish.($23.95) It was boneless and the meat was so tender you could eat it without the use of a knife. Apparently the flavor was fantastic. The Pan-Seared Scottish Salmon is served with olive oil crushed potatoes, tomato conserva and market radish.($23.95) On the last visit my daughter-in-law enjoyed The Braised Monk Fish Osso Bucco.($24.95) My family have dined here often and claim it is the best in the area. There is a reason a restaurant is completely filled early in the evening and you require a reservation. The service is impeccable. We were treated like special guests throughout. The servers were delightful and completely knowledgeable about all the food.
Everything was magic but the best was the dessert. We asked the server for a suggestion. He was so correct. The caramel sautéed apples were place on the plate to represent a flower. It was topped with a scoop of ice cream and a slice of dried apple. The stem of the flower was a caramel sauce. I have no words to describe our delight at this wondrous experience. Total Perfection.