Eataly Chicago opens: an amazing meal at Il Pesce

When in Chicago recently for business, I found out that the beloved Eataly Italian store and restaurant conglomerate had opened a new site in the windy city. I went with Megan from our Chicago office to check it out- and we delighted in the meal at their seafood restaurant Il Pesce. Just to reach the restaurant, you pass through the first floor of a huge open Italian market- with everything from hand sliced prosciutto to fresh produce to imported Italian packaged goods. Between both floors, Eataly Chicago takes up over 63,000 square feet of space, and offers up over 20 restaurants, bars, and counter dining areas.

We headed upstairs to the lofty and huge space in which specialty restaurants, shoppers, and even standing up tapas tables all intermingle. Its all hustle and bustle- but then nestled restaurants in the middle of vibrant market – with around you shelves offering up unique pasta, olive oil, sauces, condiments, and even cooking supplies. Each restaurant specializes, and the pasta restaurant had a line snaking around starting at 6:15 pm. The atmosphere feels like sidewalk dining- great people watching and lots of hubbub to take in as you eat. It’s such fun!

For our Il Pesce Italian seafood dinner we started with a couple of appetizers. We had Pulpo, tender octopus served on potatoes, celery, roasted Italian red pepper and covered in light vinaigrette with red pepper flakes.

We also shared house-cured steelhead trout crudo, which proved simultaneously tangy, sweet, vinegary served alongside pickled red onion, daikon radish, grapefruit slices, and micro-greens.

For the main meal, we shared wild striped bass, served pan-seared on pureed cauliflower. It was a really solid dish, but it did not stand out perhaps because everything else being so over-the-top-great made this seem more ordinary as a high comfort, classic main course. But the vegetable side dishes we shared alongside turned out unique delicious.

We had the Brussels sprouts with bits of pan-seared, high quality pancetta, and the chef had the Brussels sprouts themselves perfectly cooked al dente.

We also had a fantastic green salad, comprised of arugula, radicchio, endive, butter toasted very small bread crumbs, and tossed in a lemon vinaigrette. It was perfectly seasoned, and a dressing while light left the greens evenly coated. Alongside, Il Pesce serves up fresh bread – rustic, flaky, and chewy – and served with a dipping plate of high quality olive oil.

Definitely make Eataly on your must visit list for Chicago!

Eataly Chicago
43 East Ohio Street
Tel: 312.521.8700

Featured Image Photo Credit: Shutterstock