Piccolo Sogno is one of Chicago's many Italian restaurants, but its food and atmosphere definitely set it apart from the others.
Piccolo Sogno translates into "little dream," and it was the dream of chef and owner Tony Priolo and owner Ciro Longobardo. It opened its doors in 2008 and will be opening a second restaurant, Piccolo Sogno Due, in the future.
Piccolo's location is an odd one. It is a short distance from downtown, but not really in a pedestrian friendly neighborhood. What brought me to the corner of Grand and Halsted was Piccolo, and it will time and again.
Upon walking in, the bar is lovely, the inside seating is light and comfortable and the outdoor section is breathtaking. I have eaten at Piccolo Sogno many times before, and every time I have come only when the weather is nice enough for eating outside. The patio is quite large, yet full of trees that create a canopy over the seating.
The light of the outdoor seating matches the food. Most of the dishes are light and very fresh. During this visit to Piccolo Sogno I had the burrata con culatello, which is pugliese, hand-stuffed mozzarella and prosciutto, for my appetizer. My guest had prosciutto di parma, prosciutto and melon. The melon was carved into a little flower. It suited the summery atmosphere well.
When I have been to Piccolo Sogno in the past I usually get the grilled salmon, but I decided that for the review I would try something new. For main courses I had anatra e spinaci. It was more of a salad than I was expecting. Arranged on the plate was spinach with shredded duck and mushroom mixed in. It was a warm and summery dish. My guest had battuta di pollo, a grilled, flattened chicken breast, mixed greens, grapes, pine nuts and Capriole farm goat cheese. It looked delicious, and he enjoyed it.
For dessert my guest and I shared an egg-less panna cotta infused with saffron and honey that came and served with caramel and strawberries. I thought the panna cotta had a very interesting flavor to it, but after eating almost half, the saffron was a bit overwhelming. The richness of the dessert made it very difficult to finish, but the flavors were very different from another other dessert I have had.
Savor talked with Priolo about his restaurant and the food:
Windy City Times: From what I read online, you wanted to create a very authentic dining experience.
Tony Priolo: We wanted to bring Italy to you. Our idea was to work for ourselves and to bring a true Italian dining experience to Chicago. If you're in an Italian restaurant in the country you're going to eat what you see in here. If you're on the coast, you're going to eat what you see in here. So we wanted to bring all of Italy, not just keep it at one region, but bring all of Italy here, and that's what we did.
[This is] a neighborhood restaurant. We want you to come every day with your parents, with your significant other. We want you to come with your friends on girls' night out or whatever.
WCT: Why was it so important for you to create a restaurant that incorporated all the different aspects, décor, food, wine…
Tony Priolo: My family is from Sicily; Ciro's family is from Naples. We both have an appreciation for everything Italian. I did not want to limit to one region, because Italy has so much to offer. So we wanted to bring as much as we could to you.
And then our next version—Piccolo Sogno Due, which will be at 340 N. Clark St.—will be an Italian restaurant that features seafood. It will be like dining on the coast in Italy.
WCT: What kind of thought goes into the creation of a dish, and the creation of the menu on a whole?
Tony Priolo: that's very simple. We cook the food by season and availability, just like they do in Italy. So it's really not much to think about. So when its summer we're going to do panzanella, a tomato bread salad, things with artichokes and fava beans. In the winter we're going to do braised items, like lamb. It's very simple: We try to cook with the season and what God offers us. The inspiration, of course, is my experience of working in Italian restaurants and traveling to Italy and working in Italy, so that's how it all evolves.
I like to keep it very clean and simple and natural. I'm not trying to re-create the wheel; I'm just trying to give you a great experience.
See www.piccolosognorestaurant.com .
