05/24/08

Expensive and below average

by wmlong

My fiance and I attended Enoteca Piattini on a Friday night. We both enjoy wines and wine bars in general, but did not enjoy Enoteca Piattini. While they do offer a very large and interesting wine list, the quality of food and service do not do it justice.

Our waiter, while good intentioned, was inexperienced and did not provide adequate service, often forgetting about us for very long stretches of time. Our wine glasses went empty for most of the dinner. I didn't bother asking him about the wines, as it was clear that he did not know anything about them. I got the impression that Enoteca Piattini is staffed primarily with part time DePaul students, which is fine for a more simple and straightforward restaurant, but not for a place that is trying to offer an upscale experience (dinner for two without dessert was over $100).

The food was mediocre at best and improperly prepared at worst. Our spinach and cesar salads were fine, but uninspired. My fiance?s veal was over salted and accompanied by a boring side of withered steamed broccoli. My Barolo braised short rib was completely under cooked. The fats and collagens that are intended to melt and moisten the meat during several hours of cooking were grizzled and hard, making for a tough and nearly inedible dish. The large steak knife that was given to me to saw through the meat was an indication that something was wrong. Braised meat should not require a saw-toothed steak knife--it should fall right off the bone. The Barolo based sauce was, however, quite tasty. It's a shame the meat wasn't properly prepared.

Overall, a below par establishment that, like so many other restaurants in Lincoln Park and Old Town, does not live up to the standards set by other parts of the city (West Loop, Lincoln Square, Wicker Park/Bucktown).

• Pros: Ambience, wine list
• Cons: Food, service, price

12/04/07

Hot waitors awesome food

by christycumbo

The waitors are hot. they are super nice here, gave us free shots! The food is awesome, just like my roommate's Italian grandmother makes.

• Pros: Authentic italian, delicious!

12/04/06

Elaborate wine list, but need more wines by the glass

by kumakap

Wine list is pretty large and fairly impressive. I must admit that I have not eaten food here, so can't say how it tastes, but it seems to be reasonably priced. My only negative is that being an enoteca they don't have cheese plates. On being asked, they said no, but then the waiter showed up, moment later, with a haphazardly put together chesse plate. It had 2 cheeses and olives. The two cheeses were average, but what I found weird was the fact that he didn't even ask us before getting the cheese plate. I would have liked to know what was in the cheese plate, if the cheeses went with our wine, etc. Also, just two kind of cheeses in a plate, that is not going to cut it, if you are going to taste a variety of wines. Sort of disappointing. But, place is worth trying and I'll go there again, just won't order cheese, till they have a menu for their cheese offerings. So, I know what I'm ordering.