Dolce Italian arrived in Chicago this spring with the distinction of being the second incarnation of a Miami restaurant that was named the best new restaurant in America on a Bravo reality program called Best New Restaurant. (A more appropriate title might’ve been Best New Restaurant in America of the 16 We Convinced to Be on This Show, but that’s not terribly snappy.) I didn’t watch nor had I heard of BNR—my food-related reality-TV attention remains fixed on the real garbage like Mystery Diners and Bar Rescue—but from what I gather it differs from other competition shows of its ilk in that it takes into account every aspect of a restaurant’s operations, so not just the chef and her food, but the service, the management, and the overall dining experience.
People who watched the show may have trouble reconciling the food presented to Tom Colicchio and the other judges on BNR with what’s on offer here. Bravo posted on its website the menu that won Dolce Italian the championship bout against New York City’s L’Apicio, and it’s significantly more creative (house-made rabbit paté with hazelnuts and balsamic, duck and foie gras agnolotti, a squid ink and sepia polenta) than anything Dolce is currently serving. They’ve taken a decidedly populist approach: Neapolitan-style pizzas, house-made pasta, entrees like veal scaloppini and roast chicken. The aforementioned Caesar was chopped beyond recognition and absolutely drenched in a creamy dressing (I never learn my lesson about these things). We busied ourselves instead with the bread course, a combination of thin slices of airy, chewy Italian bread and delicious, crispy Parmesan-and-garlic-seasoned olive oil flatbread, served with a cream-cheese-thick house-made ricotta sprinkled with black pepper and drizzled with honey.
