Due Lire

There are few things I love more than good northern Italian food. The flavors are brilliant, simple and fresh. The cooking is thoughtful, but without pretense. Plainly put, it's just delicious.

Lucky for me, Lincoln Square now has a solid, authentic northern Italian restaurant option. Due Lire is a recent addition to the neighborhood -- so much so that it's still B.Y.O.V. (Bring Your Own Vino) until the liquor license arrives.

Jeff and I wanted some delicious Italian food, but didn't feel much like traversing the city this frigid Wednesday night. We were having our usual "where to eat, it's already getting late" debate when I remembered two things: 1. A month or two ago, we'd noticed that a place called Due Lire was set to open on Lincoln, near his place in North Center and 2. It had just been listed as one of the restaurants featured in "The Hot List" for the February issue of Chicago magazine.

As a result of the latter fact, we decided to call the restaurant and were thrilled to learn that they could accommodate two people at 8 pm. Perfect. We grabbed a delicious bottle of Burgundy Jeff had on hand and headed out to meet the new neighborhood Italian.

The place was bustling -- on a Wednesday. Clearly, this little neighborhood spot is benefiting from both the heavy foot traffic on Lincoln Ave (located right near Tank, the popular Lincoln Square sushi spot) and its debut in Chicago Magazine. As we waited for our table with a few others awaiting seats, a patron leaving assured us that it was "well worth the wait." That's a good sign.

Neither Jeff nor I was particularly starving, so we ate pretty lightly. I started with the rucola salad, comprised of arugula, grape tomatoes and sharp parmesan cheese. It was very tasty.

For his entree, Jeff ordered the ravioli rustici, which is ravioli that's been stuffed with short rib and served in a flavorful mushroom-laced ragu. It was very good. Smallish portion by typical American standards -- definitely meant to be a starter plate followed by a meat course, but perfect for us this evening.

I had the gnocchi in a Bolognese sauce. The gnocchi was perfect. And as someone who's worked very hard to perfect homemade gnocchi, I know firsthand how hard it is to get it right. (Too much flour and the "pillows" sink like lead. Too little and they're gummy and gross. Gnocchi done well is truly an art.) The Bolognese sauce was good -- a little salty for my taste, but I certainly acknowledge that I am overly sensitive to that sometimes. Most people would probably think it was perfect.

Lastly, we had the cioccolatissimo! for dessert. That's a chocolate lava cake with delicious homemade whipped cream and a touch of amarena cherry sauce drizzled on the plate. It was quite tasty.

At Due Lire, a meal is definitely meant to be a multi-course experience so the portions are manageable. Our experience isn't typical -- on most days, we'd have needed to order (or at least split) a meat course as well to ensure that we left with full stomachs. And I can't wait to go back and do just that because the meat courses looked amazing. I especially want to try the filetto manzo, a pancetta-wrapped fillet with sauteed mushrooms and a red wine reduction.

For a salad, two pasta dishes and a dessert, the bill came to $49 with tax. (This also included a $5 glass fee.) As I noted, we'd need more food to feel satiated on a normal day, but it was perfect for tonight. Overall, Due Lire was quite reasonable... and quite tasty.

We'll definitely be back -- and I'm looking forward to it already.