Bella Vista
Looking for a big night for Valentine's Day or some other special occasion? Try Bella Vista for "contemporary Italian cuisine" in a setting that truly is a "beautiful view." Located in the restored Belmont Trust & Saving Bank, Bella Vista's walls are handpainted with a beaux-arts motif. The restaurant offers a walk-through wine cellar, inlaid Italian marble floors, a wood-fire stove and a copper and glass-enclosed pizza kitchen where a variety of tasty "pizzettes" are cooked with oak, apple and cherry hardwoods. Pastas are inventive and tend to be rich. I recommend the fire-roasted cavatappic con pollo e spinaci, cavatappi pasta with basil grilled chicken breast and fresh spinach in a light cream sauce. Entrées like salmon con capellini (grilled salmon fillet over crisp angel hair torta with braised artichokes in a tomato vinaigrette) and vittelo di patate e fungi (sautéed veal over horseradish mashed potatoes, portabello and shiitake mushrooms, gorgonzola and brandy rosemary sauce) are also feasts for the senses. (A. LaBan)
Bella Vista, 1001 West Belmont, (773)404-0111. Sun-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-midnight. All major CCs/ $$
Sayat Nova
Open for nearly thirty years, Sayat Nova is named for an eighteenth-century Armenian poet who rose from the working class to become a courtier and then a monk. Armenia is situated along the ancient trading routes that passed through the Caucasus region and is bordered by Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran, so the menu at Sayat Nova reflects the culinary influences of Greece, Turkey, Syria, Persia and other Arabic neighbors. Sayat Nova specializes in various kebabs and lamb dishes, the cornerstone of many Armenian meals, including lamb chops, sautéed lamb and kibbeh - ground lamb mixed with cracked wheat and spices, and then baked. Start your meal with grape leaves stuffed with ground lamb and spices or a spinach or cheese boereg, a flaky, stuffed phyllo triangle. Once you're stuffed, sit back and relax in the restaurant's cave-like atmosphere, under sloping white-washed walls softly illuminated with Middle Eastern lamps. (A. LaBan)
Sayat Nova Armenian Restaurant, 157 East Ohio, (312)644-9159. Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:30pm, Sun 2:30pm-9:30pm. All major CCs/ $$
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.