Jan. 28--I mentioned in a previous Chicago Restaurant Week report that restaurants have various reasons for participating, including filling otherwise empty seats.
This does not seem to be the motivation for RPM Italian (52 W. Illinois St., 312-222-1888), which clearly doesn't need the business. It took me three tries to find an online reservation before getting a mid-week table at an hour that, at other establishments, might have qualified me for an early-bird special.
RPM Italian is as hot as it was when it opened almost four years ago, and it's not difficult to see why. The atmosphere is dress-up glitzy, the food by chef Doug Psaltis (the P in RPM) is sophisticated and approachable, and partners Bill and Giuliana Rancic (the R; M is for the Melman siblings) lend star wattage. Factor in RPM's Restaurant Week menu (three-course dinner, $44), and it's no wonder this is a tough table.
Main-courses include garganelli pasta tossed with mushrooms and ricotta salata, and (even better) octopus bolognese over radiatore pasta, with just enough spicy pepper to get your attention. (Unsampled: milk-braised Berkshire pork with rosemary potatoes.)
Among the starters, there's a tidy composition of burrata cheese, three piles topped with a bit of smoked salmon, truffle and chopped onion; and two large pieces of toast spread with ricotta and honey and topped with black truffle and walnut. Sloppy looking, but delicious.
Dessert features an affogato with hazelnut gelato and RPM's signature cold-press coffee. It's quite good, but the other dessert, even simpler, knocked me out: Lemon sorbetto, absolutely gimmick-free but with beautiful, faithful flavor. I can still taste it.
I, and other Tribune writers, will be filing restaurant reports every day during restaurant week, so please check back. The ninth annual Chicago Restaurant Week runs through Feb. 4. For a list of participants, menus and online reservations, visit www.eatitupchicago.com
Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic
