Va Pensiero - Another Great Evanston Restaurant (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 86)

Whenever we want to almost assure ourselves of a good suburban dining experience, we pick a restaurant in Evanston, which is probably the gourmet capital of the Chicago suburbs (Steve, as an NU grad, is biased but Lisa also agrees). Toward the beginning of the fall (yes, we are really, really behind on our entries) we decided to drive to Evanston on a nice night, and chose Va Pensiero. The location is great. Like Quince, it is in a small hotel, but unlike Quince, this hotel is upscale rather than SRO-like. We walked downstairs into a lovely Italian country-like room, which would have been perfect but it was a little too cold.

We started with a bottle of Italian Pinot Noir, suggested by the waiter since we are unfamiliar with Italian wines. His suggestion was excellent as we found the Pinot fruity and light with a good flavor. Because it was rather cold in the restaurant, instead of having our usual types of appetizers, we both ordered soup. Lisa tried the potato/tomato leek, which she didn't particularly care for. Steve, on the other hand, really enjoyed the minestrone, which was among the best soups he's ever had.

Steve was adventurous with his salad choice of the beets with goat cheese (although he basically only wanted the goat cheese). He was not disappointed, because the goat cheese was great, but he also actually liked some of the beets (who knew). Lisa had the mixed field greens with duck confit and fresh tomato. Lisa liked this dish, and had special praise for the tomatoes.

For entrees, Lisa had the short ribs. She thought they were okay, but she wasn't wowed. Steve thought they were good, but since they didn't fall off the bone they couldn't be classified as any better than that. Steve did really like his spaghetti with rock shrimp. The pasta was truly an excellent taste experience.

For dessert, Steve had the panna cotta, which he thoroughly enjoyed. His enjoyment of this dish was enhanced by the fact that very few places have good panna cotta, which is one of his favorite desserts. Lisa actually ended up having two desserts because she didn't really care for her first one, the chocolate cake. The second time was a charm, though, because she really liked her spumoni, particularly the chocolate chip part. The host/owner was so enthused that Lisa had two desserts that he gave us two free after dinner liqueurs, which were very sweet and tasty.

The bathrooms here were quaint, but very small and cold. Nonetheless they were clean and well appointed.

We highly recommend Va Pensiero, which we found to be a very enjouable dining experience in pleasant surroundings. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was only $245, and would have been under $200 with wine by the glass (a great value for all the food and courses we had).

Our ratings for Va Pensiero, 1566 Oak Avenue, Evanston

8 of 10 Steak Knives; 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes