I was suffering from mental gout two and a half years ago when the Gold Coast’s Maple & Ash opened in the midst of a citywide steak-house glut. When I proved unable to face another expense-account feedlot, Julia Thiel soldiered on in my place as I treated my symptoms with white rice and raw ginger.
But are we now in the midst of an open-hearth glut? Seems like over the last few years the restaurant scene has been swept by forest fires with the proliferation of the likes of Hyde Park’s the Promontory and the West Loop’s Roister, El Che, and Lena Brava, et al. Is Etta just Pacific Standard Time northwest?
Pastas are rich and often dressed just to the point of excess. Tightly coiled al dente cavatelli in a sauce too wet and tomatoey to accurately be called bolognese is nonetheless a greedy pleasure, and the same goes for soft squid-ink mafaldine wallowing in nduja butter and piled high with clams, crabmeat, and garlicky toasted focaccia crumbs.
1840 W. North 312-757-4444ettarestaurant.com
