Italian restaurants continue to become more interesting as chefs mine the vast wealth that lies in Italian foods. I now see it as the artisanal evolution, one that was started a couple of years ago at Quartino when John Coletta began curing meat on the premises (salumi) and offering an assortment of handmade foods in small portions.
Now comes A Mano, which, by the very nature of its name, implies "by hand" and "with skill." "Aver le mani in pasta." Translation: to have a hand in the pie. And, yes, A Mano is pulling Neapolitan-style pizzas out of a woodburning oven, one that is visible to diners in this open, sprawling restaurant that is one level below Bin 36 on North Dearborn Street.
Is it a good pie? Indeed it is. Properly chewy crust with the right puff around the edges. The "prosciutto di Parma" pizza had a light splash of tomatoes, nothing more than a smear tinged with fresh mozzarella. Atop this were ribbons of imported prosciutto and a garden of baby arugula. Excellent.
But pizza is just a sidebar on an extensive menu that includes antipasti and salumi (choose three for $12 or six for $22) as a fine way to kick-start a meal. Waves of sweet, elegant prosciutto di Parma in rows flanked by thin slices of finocchiona (fennel salame, one of the glories of cured pork) and mortadella (the real stuff from Italy) was a no-brainer choice. Should you wish to eschew meat for vegetables, I would recommend a combo trio of eggplant caponata, marinated wild mushrooms and roasted peppers with goat cheese.
Pasta possibilities number but five, but they are well thought out (and available as a half portion or whole portion). Two sampled -- pumpkin ravioli and spaghetti -- couldn't have been better. Three large ravioli in the half portion were graced gently with a brown butter sauce, Brussels sprout leaves, walnuts and pecorino cheese. The pecorino cheese gave an edge to the butter sauce that was magical.
As to the spaghetti, without question it was made in house. The texture, the chew, the goodness were obvious at first bite. Coated gently with a San Marzano tomato sauce, the pasta got a sprinkling of ricotta salata (dry ricotta) to round out the flavor. The bonus, though, was the two polpettini or little meatballs, which were delicious.
Secondi piatti (entrees) have contemporary American influences but still manage to fly the Italian flag. Grilled monkfish was dressed up nicely with a combination of borlotti beans and crumbles of housemade Italian sausage. The surf part -- the fish -- was perfectly grilled and held its own against the beans and sausage.
Similarly, roasted chicken breast (a plump beauty) had an escort of roasted cippolini onions and fregola (Sardinian pasta that is similar to couscous).
Set daily specials range from braised veal shoulder on Monday to Ligurian fish soup on Sunday. All of this gets a taste bump from the "side plates." Creamy polenta was good but needed more oomph. (Some of that pecorino cheese, perhaps?) Very creative and flavorful, too, was "mud and grass," a mixture of sauteed escarole and fava bean puree. And a larger, hopefully sharing, portion is much needed, especially so considering the $6 price.
Desserts are as interesting as the rest of the menu. The robiola and ricotta cheese cake was a stunner. A dome of delectable eating (a cookie tuile capping the dome), the texture creamy and light.
Similar enjoyment was found in the silky, deliciously rich chocolate hazelnut torte. Or try an assortment of gelati.
The toques behind all of this good eating include executive chef John Caputo (he put Bin 36 on the food map), chef de cuisine Craig DiFonzo and pastry chef Matt Kelly. Wine director Brian Duncan has put together a very Italian, very enlightened wine list that allows diners to sample by the glass or half carafe.
Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com.
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