My husband is Italian American, among other things – a little German and Irish, too.  But his grandmother was born one month this side of the crossing, which means her mother made the crossing pregnant.  Think about it – the nineteen-teens, on a ship, pregnant.  Yikes.  Tough stock, my husband’s people.

And, he cooks.

Which, since my subject today is Italian food in Chicago, is quite pertinent.

One of the dominant ethnic cuisines in this city is Italian.  Taylor Street is known for it, and many of the places on Restaurant Row are Italian.  Since that’s the case, I won’t hit the most famous.  I’ll share with you two gems that are a little lesser known, but no less incredible in their fare.

The first is Mario’s Table, in the heart of the Gold Coast.  Their sommelier is a genius, for one thing, and their food is to die for.  My favorite is their tortellini.

The second is up in our neck of the woods, on the north side:  Via Veneto.  They are truly magical, from the ambiance to the food.

I have a story about Via Veneto, as it happens.  One day, my good friend D… and her husband took me to lunch there.  Her husband is a survivor of Auschwitz.  He was there from the age of sixteen to the age of nineteen.  She knows very little of his experiences, because he’s been unable to speak of them.  But that day, the spell cast by the restaurant was strong around us.

“My cousin went to Australia,” he said.

Absolute silence fell.  I could tell from the look on D…’s face that this meant something more than I understood.

Over the next fifteen minutes, I hardly took a breath because her husband shared a steady stream of facts about members of his family.  I wanted to get up and give them privacy, but was afraid if I moved, I would break the spell.  He didn’t look at me; he seemed riveted on her face.

After we went home, D… told me it was the most information he’d shared in over twenty years of marriage.

Tomorrow, join me for a foray into Koreatown!

Thank you for joining us for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave us a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

The theme at Noony’s blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join her as she explores Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

Noony’s theme on Knoontime Knitting – One Writer’s Journey Into 3-D craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from Noon & Wilder; the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

Our friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and we’ll add you!):

• Darla M. Sands, Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
• Kari Trenten, The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration

Write on, and Happy Blogging!