It's always interesting to see how things turn out when chefs play musical chairs. Tony Priollo, who was at Coco Pazzo for quite a few years, has opened his own restaurant (Piccolo Sogno, reviewed here on Aug. 29). Chris Macchia, the chef at Coco Pazzo Cafe, replaced Priollo. And at Coco Pazzo Cafe, Jim Kilberg, who was at Gioco, took over as executive chef.
The good thing about all of this shifting of the chefs is that it seems to be working, because the food at Coco Pazzo Cafe (through all the changing of the toques) is as good as it has ever been. On the other hand, I think it's time the front of the house got spruced up a bit. Coco Pazzo Cafe is still one of the most Italian-looking Italian restaurants around; it has a casual rustic charm that is very enjoyable (even if some of the tables are nigh upon each other), so in many ways the roar of the food drowns out the aging decor. And to accent the positive, the service crew at Coco Pazzo Cafe really gets the job done.
Menus in Italian restaurants are either many pages long or one tidy page short. I can live with either as long as each dish is given the attention it deserves. Coco Pazzo Cafe's menu is one page, and it is laid out in the classic Italian manner: Antipasti, insalate, pastas, entrees, contorni.
There is also a small area of the menu devoted to bruschetta, eight choices in all. Order up the misto terra, for example. On display, on a rustic wood table in the center of the dining room to the right of the bar, is the daily selection of vegetables and grains. This is not a salad bar. Simply ask the waiter to fix you a plate, and a taste of each -- asparagus, grilled fennel, olives, roasted tomatoes, barley, grilled eggplant, fava beans. If you are super hungry, this is a good way to start, and there's enough going on for two people to split.
An appetizer with a lot more substance (read: heavier) is called fegatini -- grilled slabs of polenta (crusty outside, soft through the middle) slathered with tender morsels of sauteed chicken livers and a natural sauce accented with sage. I see a lot of polenta dishes around, but few are done in this manner, which is a classic in the region of Tuscany.
Pasta choices nicely incorporate seven different pasta cuts and styles -- gnocchi, spaghetti (two ways) linguine, rigatoni, lasagne, and tortelloni -- into various sauces of distinct Italian character. Tortelloni, stuffed with spinach and ricotta, were arranged over a light and luscious sauce made up of butter, sage and pecorino cheese (simplicity reigns). These were large plump dumplings (if they were smaller, they would be called tortellini), the pasta encasing the filling cooked perfectly al dente.
Every bit as straightforward as the tortelloni was the lasagne. A hefty slab of sheets of pasta stuffed with ground beef and bechamel sauce was capped with a light tomato sauce. The goodness is in the process. This style of lasagne is a classic in the region of Emilia-Romagna, and I would suggest that Coco Pazzo Cafe's version is every bit as good as those that I have enjoyed in Bologna and Modena.
"Risotto of the day" one night was approached with the simplicity that prevails with many of the other dishes on the menu. The only addition to the basic rice, stock, and cheese (Taleggio cheese in this instance) was wild mushrooms. Served in a properly shallow bowl, the perfectly al dente rice glimmered with goodness, the aroma intoxicating, the flavor a blend of earthy and nutty.
Pollo Milanese is on more Italian restaurant menus than any other dish I can think of. But here again the goodness is in its simplicity. A boneless chicken breast was pounded to about the thickness of a slice of bread. Then it got a light breading, followed by a brief saute to a toasty brown. The chicken was topped with a fluff of baby arugula in which were nestled sliced cherry tomatoes. I never get tired of this chicken dish, which in some respects is nothing more than a chicken salad.
Coco Pazzo Cafe is one of the few Italian restaurants that still feature saltimbocca -- saltimbocca di vitello to be exact. Roman, not Tuscan, this arrangement of thin slices of veal layered with even thinner slices of prosciutto and fresh sage (there has to be sage with this dish to be authentic) and a light natural sauce is pure goodness, authentic Italian. A tangle of sauteed rapini and a small blob of mashed potatoes completed the dish (I would lose the mashed potatoes in favor of another vegetable, however).
For the finale, try the cheese plate. It's outstanding (and reasonably priced at $12) and a nice change from the usual sweet endings. Three different cheeses --pecorino Toscana, pecorino Romano, and Gorgonzola -- got arranged with a berry preserve, mostarda, honeycomb (nice touch), walnuts and plump fresh strawberries. It was enough for two to share.
Pat Bruno is a local free-lance critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com. Listen to Pat Bruno talk about food and wine Tuesdays at 6:23 p.m. and 10:23 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 7:53 p.m. on WBBM News Radio 780-AM.
