In the early 60s the ailing Italian countess Amalia Mani Mocenigo was ordered by her doctor to adopt a diet we might today label Paleolithic. In short, she wasn’t to eat cooked meat. So while she was visiting the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice, proprietor Giuseppe Cipriani did what any resourceful, self-respecting member of the hospitality industry does when confronted with a seemingly wacky dietary restriction. He presented her with a plate of raw, tissue-thin lean prime beef, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with mustard and Worcestershire-spiked mayonnaise.
Well, if his carpaccio is any indication, he’s both honored it and updated it, decorating the deep red minerality of aged hanger steak with dabs of raisin-caper aioli and shreds of crunchy dehydrated cauliflower.
More-straightforward plates are given appealing tweaks also. Loosely formed pork meatballs in red sauce loaded with chunks of pancetta made a controversial plate at my table due to a strong clove-y flavor that I loved (everyone else disagreed). A selection of three cracker-thin flatbreads includes a number with parsley, pancetta, and pickled red onion, blanketed in a gooey-good aged provolone that’s funkier than the underside of a gondola.
671 N. Saint Clair 312-642-1800cicchettirestaurant.com
