Cafe Med by Bice. A couple of these have sprung up lately, the latest being in the Hilton Suites on East Delaware in space once occupied by Mrs. Park's Tavern. The cafe is one block off North Michigan Avenue, so this would be a good option if you are looking for a bite while holiday shopping.
Cafe Med is a cafe in name only. One look at the menu tells me that this is more of a ristorante in scope. From antipasti on through pizze, paste, and secondi, Cafe Med has a ton of choices, a menu that goes far beyond what we might expect from a simple cafe. And the prices aren't exactly cafe in $$, though admittedly a bit lower than many of the higher-priced Italian eateries in the neighborhood (or even at the Bice mother ship over on Ontario).
Cafe Med by Bice was pleasing some of the time and exasperating at other times. One night the kitchen seemed to be in a different zip code from the dining room. For example, a food runner was making an attempt to deliver our pizza to customers four tables away. And even before its trip around the dining room, it would seem that the pizza had been in limbo somewhere, since it was lukewarm at best upon arrival (melted cheese does not wear well).
And then there was the pasta e fagioli, which had no good reason to be called that, because it was nothing more than a lot of thick broth and hardly any pasta -- or fagioli either for that matter. Note to kitchen: Stir the pot before you ladle it out, please.
The rest of the dishes tried were good. Calamaretti con zucchini e salsa piccante translates as "Flash-fried calamari, zucchini & mushrooms, spicy marinara." Close enough. Any fried calamari worth eating needs to be flash-fried or the rings turn to rubber bands. This was good stuff. The tender golden rings were in the company of "strings" of fried zucchini and nubby morsels of earthy mushrooms. A cup of warm marinara sauce for dipping comes with, but a squirt of lemon is all you need. It was worth the $11.
Cafe Med makes a statement about its pizza (the gas-fired pizza oven is not that far from the entrance door and in full view, and no fewer than 15 pizzas are on the menu), so on my visits two pizzas (one size fits all) were tried. Thin crust all the way, the crust sporting the right texture and a good chew. The Margherita was classic: Light tomato sauce, dabs of fresh mozzarella, a chiffonade of fresh basil strewn over the top.
Fotomodella (rough translation: photographer's model) was the pizza sampled on my second visit. Fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula and truffle oil were the listed ingredients. Paper-thin sheets of prosciutto di Parma got laid over the crust, which had been glazed with fresh mozzarella. Baby arugula topped the prosciutto, but the truffle oil had gone missing. Had I been able to catch a waiter's eye, I would have asked for some extra-virgin olive oil, which this pizza sorely needed.
Scaloppine di vitello al limone con capperi (three thin and tender pieces of veal dressed with a lemon butter sauce and capers) was an excellent rendition of this timeless classic. The veal was paired with top-notch mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach (with a nice hint of garlic).
The fettuccine con polpette e pomodoro piccante (spaghetti and meatballs) boasted two quite delicious veal meatballs alongside a generous portion of pasta that had been splashed gently with a well-made marinara sauce. Use some of the house focaccia to sop up the remaining sauce.
Only one dessert was sampled, and that was the profiteroles, which was a rendition that was born, it seems, in the mind of an Italian chef who had spent some time working in France. Three puffs filled with whipped cream (not ice cream) got drenched with a Nutella-like cream. Would I order this dessert again? Probably not.
