Spiaggia

Spiaggia was the one Italian restaurant I felt had the potential to break into the four-star category.

My optimism centered on executive chef Paul Bartolotta, one of the most talented chefs in Chicago.

Add the luxuriously appointed restaurant with its wall of windows overlooking North Michigan, the crisp tablecloths, the fine china, the spotless flatware and glassware.

Note what's missing: service, comfort and value. An almost-excellent restaurant doesn't rate four stars, especially when my dinner tab for two, with tax and tip, totaled $194.89, and a lunch tab for two cost $86.55.

For four stars, a restaurant has to be, if not perfect, so close that a minor flaw doesn't matter. I would even overlook the prices had everything else been on the money.

What went wrong? It wasn't the food, which rates four-stars without question. It was the devil in the details. For example, the gnocchi di patate al burro e oro. The silky gnocchi alone was perfectly cooked, the best I have ever had. The creamy tomato sauce was excellent but not outstanding (cutting some slack here). But the gnocchi was barely warm. Even the bowl was cool to the touch. And at these prices could you at least shave some cheese over it?

That was the only flaw regarding the food. Now about comfort and service. At these prices should any customer be given a postage-stamp-size table so close to a radiant heater that discomfort is raging throughout the meal? I asked our waiter if the table could be moved a few inches. He suggested that the heat be turned down, which took a good half-hour to kick in. But then the heat came right back after a while. I am not cutting any slack here.

And then there is the "You Are Dead Meat Syndrome,'' where once the entree has been served, your waiter forgets you exist. We got passed off to a subaltern when it was time for dessert. He was nice, but seemed insecure in explaining the choices. And the waiter? He did deliver the check.

One more thing. Is it really necessary to slip a card in with the check stating, "Our international guests often ask about tipping''? and that "quality service is customarily acknowledged by a gratutity of 15 to 20 percent of the total bill''? I suppose you could call it a coup de (dis)grace.

OK, just one more thing. If the restaurant feels it is important to have a piano playing, could we please have something other than sappy show tunes?

Now onto what I like about Spiaggia. Exquisite was the tortellini all panna tartufata, handmade Bolognese tortellini in a white truffle-scented cream sauce. The pleasure of this dish haunts me. The enticing aroma, the silky sauce, the pasta's al dente allure. Perfetto!

Perfect, too, was the risotto, creamy and all'onda (wavy) and coupled with brown borlotti beans, brussels sprout leaves and Taleggio and Raschera cheeses.

Faranona alle verze con porcini translates to wood-roasted guinea hen with savoy cabbage and porcini mushrooms. It's a perfect complement of textures and flavors, and that hen's flavor ranged from delicate to a hint of gaminess.

Trancio di salmone, or fillet of salmon, becomes the fish of the moment, impeccably so when it has been wood-roasted to perfection, the flesh still moist and flavorful. Paired simply with a white wine butter sauce its flavor IQ rises. Add asparagus tips and chopped fresh tomatoes, and the result is pure delight.

At lunch, I ordered wood-roasted grouper, and when I get two perfectly cooked fillets arranged atop a delicious melange of arugula and fresh tomato sauce (concasse), I am in a state of bliss.

The dessert menu has no fewer than 10 choices plus gelati and sorbetti. Do not miss the incredibly delicious Valrhona bittersweet chocolate cake/torta. Ethereal alone, heavenly with its toasted almond sauce.

Chilled mascarpone cheese torta is as rich as Croesus and as sinful as, well, sin. A towering oval of smooth, sweet, rich cream, dusted with cocoa powder, sitting in a shallow pool of espresso sauce. An intensely flavored scoop of house-made chocolate gelato brought the aphrodisia full circle.

Excellent but pale in comparison is the apple crespelle. A folded crepe, stuffed with slices of soft apples, is set into an almond cream, with sauteed apples alongside and a scoop of cinnamon gelato.

A note about the dinner and lunch prices mentioned earlier: The dinner tab (three courses) included no cocktails but one bottle of wine ($49). The lunch tab (three courses) included two glasses of wine ($9.75 and $7.75).