"Jeff Ruby checks out iconic Italian Village and has a mostly positive experience. The longstanding venue houses three separate restaurants, each with varying levels of success. Downstairs in the basement, La Cantina “feels dusty and slapdash.” The bread is “stale,” the fettuccine is “gloppy,” and a “tired-looking” antipasto plate feels like “the kind of lowbrow platter [Ruby’s] mom would have hastily assembled for a graduation party in 1983.” Things are much better at the Village, where chef José Torres “hit[s] the mark more often.” The toato sauce manages to “strike the sugar-acid equilibrium that eludes many pomodoros” while the chicken rotolini sits in a “punchy” mushroom-sherry sauce. And a prime steak sandwich with caramelized onions and melted mozzarella is “no frills, all flavor.” The clear standout, though, is contemporary eatery Vivere. Emily Phillip’s dishes are “precise, often winkingly clever.” The flavors on grilled octopus, dressed in port wine and nestled with purple potatoes on purple garlic aioli, “bounce and snap.” Pan-seared, oven-roasted black cod flakes off in “buttery hunks between a chunky tapenade and a soft layer of red quinoa with toasted pine nuts.” Overall, Italian Village is “in a good place” and Ruby thinks Vivere “could take its place among Chicago’s best Italian restaurants if Phillips is in for the long haul.”" - Jeffy Mai
