A couple of weeks ago I joined a few fellow food bloggers for a dinner at Tesori, an Italian restaurant in the Loop. Tesori is a sophisticated yet low key eatery near the Art Institute and Grant Park. The space is big, and thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, it is filled with light. The large bar area has a separate menu. The main menu is a modern take on Italian classics that incorporates current restaurant trends – right now Beet Salads and Kale Salads are all the rage.
Beets are in season, and they seem to be making their way onto every menu. This is a trend that I can get onboard with, especially since each restaurants seems to be doing something a bit different with the ingredient. At Tesori, sugar beets are served in a salad with spinach, gorgonzola, asparagus, and almonds. It was a nice combination of sweet and salty flavors.
The highlight of the meal was the braised chicken thigh ravioli with leeks, chanterelles, and au jus (pictured at the top of this post). Our waitress had recommended this, and she had a small taste of the dish brought our for each of us. The pasta had a nice weight and toothiness to it, and the balance of tastes was perfect. The au jus was a lighter sauce and this dish is intended to be eaten with a soup so that the au jus can be enjoyed with eat bite. This is absolutely what I will order next time I visit Tesori.
Next, I had more pasta – the spinach and ricotta agnolotti (agnolotti is a differently shaped ravioli). I probably would have enjoyed this a bit more if the chicken thigh ravioli hadn’t been so incredible. The agnolotti was a great take on a classic ravioli with a creamy sauce, what really made it stand out was the generous amount of black truffle.
I finished my meal with the affogato – after all that eating I needed a bit of espresso. I loved the presentation – the coffee was separate from the vanilla gelato, and served with cookies on the side. The gelato always melts so fast, so serving it on the side let me determine when and how I wanted to combing the gelato and coffee.
Tesori is located in Chicago’s Loop, at 65 East Wabash, just beside the Brown Line Adams/Wabash Stop. Terosi is a definitely one of the best restaurants in the Loop, and it would be the perfect place to visit before an evening at the theater or Art Institute.