It has been way too long since I did one of these. Mostly because we have been literally hibernating all winter and spending most nights drinking beer on our couch. Nobody wants to read a review of that, right? (It was pretty awesome, in case you were wondering.)

But now that it’s starting to get a bit nicer out, I’m definitely going to start these Chi-town restaurant reviews up again. First of all, because they’re fun and (I hope) useful, and second of all, because it gives me an excuse to try lots of new places and take pictures of my food in public! No shame here.

So here we go. A few weeks ago, Brad and I went on a non-couch date night to Davanti Enoteca. Davanti is a small plates Italian restaurant, which is one of my absolute favorite types of food. I’d been to their other location on Taylor Street a long time ago and remembered really liking it, so their River North location had been high on my list to visit since it opened last year.

We kicked off the evening with some appetizers: crispy pork belly, a warm Tuscan kale salad, and – my personal favorite – the truffle egg toast with fontina and asparagus. The salad was delicious; meaty guanciale (an Italian cured meat) complimented the salty Tuscan kale perfectly, while pecans added a perfect crunch and a little pecorino provided a little bite. The crispy pork belly was okay, but it was by far my least favorite dish of the meal (which is very strange for me – I LOVE pork belly). I actually let Brad eat most of it, which is saying something. It was served over a sauerkraut-type slaw, which was good, but the cut was too fatty and the skin was too crispy and made it hard to eat. Next!

As I mentioned, my favorite appetizer was the truffle egg toast. This dish was insane. It’s a really thick, buttery piece of cheesy toast with a little depression filled with 2 runny egg yolks. It’s served on a bed of beautiful thin asparagus, and when you cut it open the egg runs everywhere and anywhere. I sopped up every last bit with that cheesy toast and was a happy girl indeed.

Side note: is it fat of me that I was sad we didn’t get a bread basket? Actually, don’t answer that.  I just talked about the cheesy truffle toast we devoured for an entire paragraph.

For our bigger plates, we also split a pasta and a pizza, both of which were fantastic. I am a total sucker for fresh handmade pasta, so I have to say the pasta had a bit of an edge for me. We ordered the Orecchiette con Salsiccia e Rapini, which was oricchiette pasta with sausage and rapini and a little kick from some chilies. I love a spicy pasta, especially one that involves sausage, so I think this was my favorite dish of the night. The pizza we ordered was great too, a classic wood-fired thin-crust beauty with spicy pepperoni and a nice light tomato sauce. 

Finally, for dessert we split an apple bread pudding that was absolutely delicious, served with some spiced nuts and an ooey gooey caramel sauce. The portion size was small, perfect for a sweet bite after a giant meal. Major yum. 

Overall, I’d definitely recommend Davanti Enoteca if you’re downtown looking for a good place to have a serious meal. It’s a bit pricey (especially if you get wine), but you can really customize the meal to how hungry you are because everything comes in small portions. I can’t say I liked it better than my absolute favorite small plates Italian place, the neighboring Quartino, but it was a wonderful meal with attentive, friendly service and a great selection of dishes. I would go back anytime! 

Restaurant Information:

Davanti Enoteca

30 E Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60611

(312) 605-5900

http://www.davantirivernorth.com/

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