CheekyChicago

There’s nothing like curling up next to a fireplace with a glass of red wine on a cold winter night. Or devouring comfort food until you’ve slipped into a food coma and are forced to unbutton your pants beneath the table. I prefer the latter, but thankfully La Madia is perfect for both.

The new winter menu is one of the few bright spots in this never-ending season, featuring eggplant bruschetta, four gourmet pizzas, and one spectacular salmon entrée. I took my tasting seriously and sampled almost everything, along with the scallops and two desserts. My pants stayed buttoned, but barely.

While an appetizer isn’t really necessary at La Madia considering the generously sized pizzas, the newly introduced eggplant topped bruschetta is a worthy starter. When it comes to the second course, each pizza I sampled seemed better than the next. The classic mozzarella di bufala is a reliable crowd pleaser, a culinary spin on the traditional cheese pizza…upgraded with torn basil, flavorful tomato sauce, and imported Italian cheese. I never expected to enjoy egg on my pizza until trying La Madia’s inspired version with Caciocavallo cheese and black pepper coated with a cracked, slightly runny organic yolk. It sounds strange, looks unusual, but tastes delicious. My personal favorite was the Coach Farm goat cheese with melted leeks and garlic, especially when paired with a glass of La Spinetta Ca di Pian. My waiter almost doubled as a sommelier and chose this varietal as his favorite Italian red, a recommendation I readily agreed with.

On the specialties side, La Madia proves it’s more than a fine pizza purveyor. The pan-seared king salmon is brushed with a Meyer lemon sauce and accompanied by a healthy serving of savory Brussels sprouts, grape tomatoes, and cippolini onions. It’s a satisfying winter dish, but I succumbed to the scallops, devouring most of the entrée myself. The combination of wilted garlic spinach, fingerling potatoes, and pomegranate sauce distracted me from everything else on the crowded table and my ability to share promptly disappeared. Pizzas are great for groups; scallops for a solo diner.

Since there’s always room for dessert, even after a carb-fueled feast, I indulged just a little more with the chocolate tortino and the huckleberry and pear crostada. It pains me to say I didn’t love something made of layered chocolate, but the pastry took the cake. And a rich vanilla bean gelato topping only made it more decadent.

In a season of sub-zero wind chill, outdoor armor, and constant sidewalk slush, everyone deserves an escape. While La Madia isn’t a sun-dappled island off the coast of Italy, it is a warm and inviting haven where the wine flows, the pizza is plentiful, and the chill of Chicago winter is temporarily forgotten.