On a recent trip into Chicago, I was staying out near O'Hare International Airport and was looking to try an Italian restaurant. I was looking through Urbanspoon and Yelp for restaurants in the area and found a place that seemed to get some favorable reviews - Basilico Italian Ristorante. I determined that it was less than a 10 minute drive from the hotel, so I took off along S. Cumberland toward Basilico.
Years ago - back in the mid-80's when I first became a rep in the audio business - I was in Chicago with my new boss and a co-worker for the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (which no longer exists). We stayed at a hotel near O'Hare and we were told that a certain Italian restaurant just down the road had pretty good food. When my then-boss - who was sort of a food snob and who taught me a lot about fine dining - pulled up in front of the restaurant and we found it to be in a strip mall, he about came unglued. "No good restaurant is EVER in a strip mall," he bellowed. For the longest time - thanks to my old boss - I had a prejudice about restaurants in strip malls. But I quickly found that there are some pretty damned good restaurants in strip malls. We went into that particular Italian restaurant that evening over 25 years ago and had some outstanding Italian food. Even my boss was impressed that a restaurant in a strip mall was that good.
It could have very well been Basilico that we went to as the restaurant has been in business since the mid-70's. It has gone through a number of ownership and name changes since its inception. In the beginning, it was known as Back Stage. In the mid-80's, it was sold again and renamed Fettuccine with the restaurant going through a heavy makeover with the-then owners giving it the styling of a European bistro that it has today. In the 90's, the original owners came back into the picture and transformed the restaurant into Basilico Ristorante. Five years ago the restaurant was bought by an investment group, but the long time chefs - Mario, Italo and Manuel - and many of the staff stayed on board.
Driving down Cumberland Ave. south of the Kennedy Freeway, you eventually cross into the near northwest Chicago suburb of Norridge. Just south of Lawrence on the east side of the street is a rather drab looking building by the name of the Cumberland Business Center. (see map) On the south side of the building was a windowless wing with a lighted sign that said "Basilico Ristorante". I wasn't certain what I was getting into with this place - Basilico shared space in the mall with a DUI consultation center and a Homeland Security immigration office in addition to a number of other small professional businesses. In fact, some of the reviews I saw online talked about how some people thought twice about going into the restaurant because of the drab exterior, but ended up that they were pleased they did.
You enter the Cumberland Business Center and take an immediate right to the front door of Basilico. The place was less than half full, but it looked rather classy. Spiffy dressed waiters were moving through the tables and one eventually met me at the host stand to seat me. I sat in one of the plush booths along the west wall of Basilico. He dropped off a dinner menu and a wine list and a bus boy dropped off a basket of bread. Soon, my server for the evening - German (with a hard "G") - came over to greet me. I immediately ordered a bottle of Bud Light while I perused both menus. Unfortunately, the beer was lukewarm, at best. Not a good start in my book.
The menu at Basilico is very extensive. In addition to a number of pasta dishes, they also feature chicken and veal dishes, as well as steaks and pork chops. Alone, Basilico had about a dozen different types of veal entrees. One that piqued my interest was the Vittelo Sorrentino - veal medallions cooked with prosciutto, eggplant, artichoke hearts in lemon wine sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese. The Vittelo alla Francese featured veal slices cooked in an olive oil and garlic, lemon, and white wine sauce, then set on a bed of fettuccine.
But they also had a load of pasta dishes - two dozen items on the menu, alone. The Spinach Fettuccine caught my eye, as did the Linguini con Cozze - linguini and mussels in a white wine sauce. But eventually, I found something that made my stomach do backflips - the Tortellini alla Panna. It featured seasoned ground beef rolled into tortellini pasta and served in a cream sauce with chopped onions, mushroom slices, peas and imported Italian ham chunks, then topped with fresh parmesan cheese. I had to get that when German came back to take my order. I also ordered a house salad with their homemade Italian dressing, but I asked German if they had crumbled blue cheese. He said, "We have imported crumbled blue cheese." Oooo... Imported!
The salad was actually kind of blah. The blue cheese was sort of bland and didn't have the kind of kick that I enjoy with Maytag Blue Cheese. Along with the oil-based Italian dressing, it was all right, but not the taste sensation that I was expecting.
I had finished about half the salad when German brought out the tortellini. It was a massive amount of ground beef filled tortellini pasta with large chunks of sliced mushrooms and a smattering of peas mixed in with punguent chopped onions in a thick cream sauce. The picture above right doesn't do the dish justice.
From the first bite, I realized that I had gotten into something very good. No, not very good - outstanding. The creamy and cheesy sauce, the perfectly cooked tortellini filled with the seasoned beef, the fresh sliced mushrooms, even the peas - which I normally don't care for - were all so flavorful. It was, oh, so good - but it was, oh, so rich. I had gotten a glass of the Santa Margherita pinot grigio with the meal and it was a nice complement to the meal.
Have you ever liked something so much that even when you feel yourself getting full that you still can't stop? That was me with the tortellini alla panna at Basilico. When I first started, I figured that I *may* be able to eat half the dish. Halfway through the bowl of tortellini, I figured that I could eat about another half of what I had left. I was down to about four or five tortellinis left in the bowl and even though I was stuffed, I couldn't quit eating. It was that good. I finished the last of the tortellini and then began to sop up some of the parmesan cream sauce with a piece of bread. I had to finally tell myself, "Stop! This is ridiculous!"
I felt like crap - both physically and mentally - when I left Basilico that evening. I had feelings of deep guilt because I severely overate. The tortellini was simply outstanding and I was so unpleasantly stuffed afterward because I couldn't stop. Basilico was a hidden gem, one where you cannot fully judge until you go inside and try some of their food.
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