Showing posts with label Little Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Italy. Show all posts

Friday, October 24, 2025

Italian Dining at Bacchanalia Little Italy Chicago

Italian Dining at Bacchanalia Little Italy Chicago

We dined at Bacchanalia Italian Restaurant in Little Italy, Chicago, named after the Roman God Bacchus. This follows our wonderful, memorable Sunday afternoon alfresco dinner at another neighborhood restaurant a couple weeks ago featured in this blogpost - Wine & Dinner at Bruna’s in Chicago’s Little Italy.

The Oakley Street barricades are gone as autumn wanes so we dined inside in the small intimate dining room in the rear of the small neighborhood trattoria. 


Since its founding in 1979, Bacchanalia has been continuously family owned and operated by The Pieri Family from Pisa, Italy (Tuscany). It purports to be the longest single-family owned Italian Restaurant in the Heart of Chicago's Heart of Italy area on famous South Oakley Avenue.

Belfonte and wife Noemi Pieri moved to the US in 1958 to pursue their lifetime dream opening their own Italian Restaurant. 

Using recipes they brought from their families in Tuscany, they opened Bacchanalia in 1979, just blocks away from their home. The Pieri’s remained fulltime in the business until 2000 when their daughter and son, Paula & Dante, took over the business. 

Pieri continued to develop new recipes until he passed away in 2006. Today, Noemi still contributes in the kitchen hand making the ravioli.

Entering through the quaint cozy bar, the intimate old fashioned dining room is in the rear, with white table cloth covered tables.

For our dinners we both selected ‘signature dishes’, Linda ordering the baked clams and I had the signature Veal Lombardo.

The Veal Piccata Lombardo is represented as ‘Veal medallions sauteed in a lemon, wine Sauce with Capers and topped with Mozzarella Cheese’, but somehow they forgot the capers. 

Had I ordered the basic Veal Medallions sauteed in a light Lemon Brown Gravy, it might have been more complete and tasty. 

When I questioned the preparation and presentation, they brought me a ramekin of fresh capers, which I added to my now cold entree! Presumably, these are normally cooked in for a more tasty sauce.

Linda’s Baked Clams stuffed with Homemade Filling were okay. 


Perhaps the highlight of the mean was the dessert course. The dessert menu is presented in a quaint colorful booklet with photos of each of the selections. 


I had the Tiramisu which came in a large portion, while Linda had the cannoli. 



Both desserts were delectable. 

From the minimalist wine list we ordered a basic Chianti Classico Reserva

Ruffino Chianti Classico Reserva 2021

This over-achieving label is the base entry of the Ruffino family and represents high QPR in this release at retail prices - not so much at tonight’s restaurant price at nearly 3x retail. 

Ruffino apply their century-long Tuscan traditions with new state-of-the-art cellar technology and modern winemaking, operating seven prominent estates in Tuscany, all situated within the major DOCG production regions including Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Chianti and Chianti Classico

Founded in 1877 by Illario and Leopoldo Ruffino, their winery in Pontassieve is just outside of Florence. In 1913, the Folonari family purchased Ruffino and started a nearly century-long pursuit to develop and consolidate a collection of estates in Tuscany. Producing wines according to a strict quality standards and  rigorous technical research, Ruffino have became an international symbol of the Chianti region having won numerous awards including the prestigious gold medal at the Bordeaux Wine Fair in 1895.

Winemaker’s notes - “Intense ruby red. This complex wine is characterized by cherry and violet notes with delicate hints of tobacco, white pepper, and a touch of flint. This complex wine is characterized by cherry and violet notes with delicate hints of tobacco, white pepper, and a touch of flint”.

This is 80% Sangiovese augmented with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This was rated 93 Points by Wine Spectator and 92 Points by James Suckling.

Bright ruby red, medium bodied, a bit disjointed, yet, expressive plum, cherry and boysenberry fruits with notes of tobacco, forest floor, thyme and baking spices, with juicy acidity and a tangy texture on the lingering finish. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?5096899

http://www.bacchanaliainchicago.com/home2.html

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Wine & Dinner at Bruna’s in Chicago’s Little Italy

Wine & Dinner at Bruna’s Ristorante in Chicago’s Little Italy for classic authentic Italian cuisine and wine 

We ventured into the city (Chicago) to attend grand-daughter’s traveling soccer game in the Pilsen, ‘heart of Chicago’ neighborhood with views of the spectacular skyline in the distance. 

After the game, we ventured in to the historic ‘Little Italy’ ‘business’ neighborhood of south Oakley street for dinner. For literally decades, we’ve traveled to Taylor Street, the traditional popular ‘Little Italy’ restaurant district, as we watched the diminishment and closure of the classic historic trattorias there over the years. Indeed, the remaining restaurant that we now frequent there is Chez Joel, a classic French bistro. 

I’m frustrated and regret that somehow we missed or lost track of, and have overlooked this historic Italian ‘business’ neighborhood on South Oakley street, that still features no less than five historic authentic Italian restaurants clustered together on this street. Linda reminded me we dined there together with friends no less than thirty years ago. And, before that, she worked for a brief period just four blocks away and used to dine there with colleagues from work.  

We were delighted to rediscover this historic neighborhood that had blocked off South Oakley street between 24th Street and 24th Place to accommodate dinners on this exceptional, spectacular end of summer, autumn evening.    

We dined at Bruna’s Ristorante, situated on the corner of 24th Place and Oakley. Opened by Bella ‘Bruna’ Cani  in 1933 – the same year prohibition was repealed, it is the third-oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago. (Of course readers of these pages know we feature often Italian Village, THE oldest Italian Restaurant in Chicago.)

The story goes that when Bruna wasn’t cooking for her patrons, Bruna would dance on the bar while her customers sang. Bruna’s legacy continued as, until recently, you could find her daughter Marylyn (Mickey), who passed away in 2013 at the age of 94, relaxing on a neighborhood bench when the weather was right.

Bruna sold the restaurant in 1981 to Luciano Silvestri who shared her same heritage, being from the central Italian region of Tuscany, and shared a passion for authentic Italian food. Luciano still prepares many of Bruna’s original recipes, while also introducing several of his own family’s prized Italian dishes.

Current owner Luciano is a native of Siena, Italy, and has worked in the restaurant industry from a young age, working extensively in Switzerland and London. Before coming to Chicago in 1977, Luciano worked at the renowned Villa d’Este resort in Como, Italy, as well as on the Sitmar and Princess cruise lines.

Today, Bruna’s offers a wide assortment of pasta dishes, tender veal, and, of course, Bella Bruna’s original roast chicken recipe, still served every Sunday. They also boast what many say is the city’s best tiramisu, which Luciano makes himself.

Luciano remains involved greeting customers as well as pouring wine and making espresso.

We dined al fresco on the barricaded street, set up with the tables for diners from the group of restaurants up and down the block on both sides of the street.  



Following fresh Italian bread with virgin Olive Oil and fresh parmigiana cheese, Linda ordered from the classic authentic Italian menu for her entree, the appetizer bowl of fresh mussels in white wine sauce. 


We were served by Josef who has been on the waitstaff there for a mere seventeen years, having also worked previously at the legendary former Como Inn, another Chicago Italian cuisine institution in its day. He followed his father who also served in the notable Italian restaurants in the city and the neighborhood. 

At Josef’s recommendation, I ordered from the Chef’s Specialties, Veal Saltimbocca Alla Romana from the broad selection of Veal and Chicken dishes on offer, along with a side dish of Fettucini Alfredo.




Bruna’s offers an extensive wine list featuring mainly Italian wines with some Californian selections. Bruna’s also imports a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a wine made near Luciano’s Italian hometown which is offered by the glass and by the bottle.

They also offer a full page Reserve “Cellar Selections” that includes many classic premier Italian producers and labels including Biondo Santi, Casanova de Neri, Masseto, Gaja, Solaia, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Valdicava and Tignanello. 


The Cellar Selections Reserve list also offered well known super premium American California classics including Dominus, Quintessa, Phelps Insignia, Opus One, Schafer Hillside, Caymus Special Select, Plumpjack, Far Niente, Groth Reserve and Darioush. 

We ordered this classic traditional Chianti Classico Sangiovese as a perfect wine accompaniment to our Italian cuisine. 

Isole e Olena "Cepparello" Toscana 2018

This highly regarded Isole e Olena is from producer/winemaker Paolo de Marchi. Isole e Olena is named for the formation of the two estates that were purchased by the De Marchi family in the 1950s. 

Fourth generation winemaker Paolo De Marchi studied Agriculture at the University of Turin and worked harvests in California and France before returning to the family estate in 1976. He improved the property in the Chianti Classico region through redevelopment and modernization.

De Marchi earned a reputation as “Mr. Sangiovese” and also the “Dean of Chianti” gaining notoriety balancing tradition with innovation by planting international varieties. 

This label of Cepparello was first produced in 1980 and is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest expressions of Sangiovese.  

He sold the estate and completed his last vintage for Isole e Olena in 2022 after 50 years. His final releases got rave reviews with ratings in the high nineties - the 2021 getting 99 points from James Suckling, 97 from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and 96 points from Wine Spectator. 

Winemaker notes and description of the complex 2015 Cepparello: “Shows lots of black cherries, cranberry tea, caramelized orange peel, roasted herbs and citrus peel. Full-bodied with ripe and quite round tannins that frame layers of cherries. Bright and fresh, yet rich and long at the same time. The Sangiovese character really springs out of the glass.”

This 2018 Isole e Olena "Cepparello" Toscana was rated 96 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 95 points by James Suckling, 94 points by Decanter and Vinous, and 92 by Kerrin O’Keefe.

This was my first experience with this producer and I’ll be on the lookout for it in the future while the current era vintages are still available. 

Dark red/purplish colored, full bodied, rich, concentrated, bold, bright expressive bright dried cherry and dark berry fruits, notes of cassis, balsam herb spice, lavender finishing with menthol and exprsso with round tannins on a savory slightly aggressive expressive finish.

RM 92 points. 


We moved to dessert - Linda ordered the Cannoli and I had the Tiramisu. Both were delicious. Linda raved about the Cannoli - said it was the best ever!