CheekyChicago

If someone offered you some crazy food, what would you say? My answer would be a big, resounding yes.

In Italian, cibo matto directly translates to ‘crazy food.’ The new Italian installment on the second floor of the hip and trendy theWit hotel cooks up some crazy good, crazy fresh and crazy inventive cuisine.

Lucky me, I had reservations at cibo matto on opening night. Although there’s always a risk factor involved with opening nights (forgetting a sprig of parsley is no different than an actor blanking on his lines), I find them to be very exciting. There’s an energy, a rush, an ambitious spirit.

We walked in to the restaurant (after an unsuccessful attempt at finding a seat at Roof – keep in mind, this is 5:30 pm on a Tuesday) only to find out that there. was. no. bar. Our wide agape mouths closed when we were led to a lounge table by the hostess stand. A drink’s a drink, right? We happily sipped our Negroni’s (equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth), now forgetful that there was no bar. Note to future cibo matto-ers: come early to either snag a seat at Roof (they’re a hot commodity) or one of the few lounge tables at cibo.

Two Negroni’s in, we were beyond ready to eat. Hell, we were ready to go crazy. So, we started with the Crudo di Hamachi (hamachi crudo, watercress pesto, pine nuts and frantoia olive oil) and the Burrata e Pesche (summer peaches, burrata, almond pesto and wild arugula). Although the hamachi is way worthy of a shout out, the burrata was one of the best I have ever had. This was heaven in cheese and peach form. My date is a hard one to impress and he would agree with me on this one.

In typical Italian fashion, a ‘primi’ course of pasta is preceded by the ‘secondi’ or main course. Choose from the Angolotti (garden pea and ricotta filled agnolotti, local tomatoes and shelled peas); the Spaghetti (cured tomatoes, Calabrian chilis, baked ricotta); the Corzetti (stamped pasta, sweet corn, chanterelle mushrooms, charred red onion and oregano) and the Bucatini (carbonara, pecorino romano, guancale, duck egg and cracked black pepper). In my Italian book, the winner was the Angolotti.

Although relatively full from my burrata and ‘primi’ course, I was certainly not going to pass up my main meal. That’s like eating vanilla ice cream with no toppings, whipped cream or chocolate sauce. I was absolutely blown away by the Carne di Manzo (grilled, dry-aged, bone-in New York strip, grilled raddichio and endive). I must admit, this was not my first choice, but my meat-loving date and the very intelligent server insisted upon it. That meat was like buttah and the preparation…pristine.

Nerves run rampant on opening night, whether in the theatrical or culinary sense. cibo matto had no need for stage fright. This is one of the greatest new Italian restaurants to open in Chicago since that crazy little place called Volare.