Mike M.
Yelp
While looking for cool new restaurants in the Naperville area, I came across Che Figata's menu and it gave me a flashback to our trip to Rome with classic Roman pastas like cacio e pepe and Roman style pizza.
Ambiance: You would have never guessed this was a hotel restaurant just from the pictures online. I had no clue this was the new restaurant they were building inside Hotel Arista until we got there. It had that restaurant and fresh market combination going on, kind of like Beatrix in the city. Overall, Che was another one of those suburban restaurants that had a city vibe. I liked how the layout just a generic grid of tables, but rather a mix of tables, booths, counter seats overlooking the open kitchen, and then even a communal counter in the center of the dining area.
Food: Honestly, the pictures of the free bread and pizzas were enough to draw me in haha. We went for an early lunch, so we didn't wanna go too hard and kill the rest of the day in a food coma.
House bread - From the pictures, I was really looking forward to the free bread. It looked like a plate of pepper, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and what I thought was a tomato or vodka sauce element. I dove right in and mixed everything together, but was blind-sided by the super tangy, vinegar-y flavor. They went a little heavy on the balsamic, and it overpowered the sauce a little bit. It was alright, just not the savory dipping sauce I was expecting.
Il Misto della Domenica - This was basically an open-faced steak and cheese sandwich, but it was effing good. The meat was ultra tender, and the au jus was soaked into each piece of the bread. Then it was topped with a layer of cheese that was just oozing down the edges. I easily could've eaten 3 of them.
Lardo e salame Pizza - Che Figata straight up knows how to make a pizza. You could see the guys in the open kitchen popping them into the brick oven, and this crust did not disappoint. It was pretty much perfect: thick and crispy on the outside, soft and warm in the middle, decorated with light and airy bubbles, and had a slight char to it. The cheese, sauce, and salami were all on point as well. I thought portions could've been bigger, but you can't argue with the quality of the dish.
Lasagna di 16 piani - We were on the fence between the lasagna and the cacio e pepe, and the lasagna ultimately won out because it looked so hearty and saucy. No regrets here. This was just straight up delicious. I don't even wanna know how much parmesan, ricotta, and mozzarella were in here because it was damn cheesy and I absolutely loved it. My fiance and I were splitting everything, and it took all my control to not keep going at it and down the whole thing myself.
Tiramisu - This was an interesting take on tiramisu. Instead of one piece of tiramisu, it came with 6 little bite-sized cubes. Taste-wise it was almost identical to regular tiramisu, with the addition of hardened chocolate bottom that kept everything together. Although it was probably less food than a normal portion, I was actually sort've glad it was just a small little sweet bite at the end instead of another heavy course.
Overall, Che Figata is another solid spot in the burbs. It's a little pricey for the portion size, but the quality of the ingredients and food are evident.