Peanut Park Trattoria - Chicago
For well over a century, Chicago has been a center of Italian-American culture; Peanut Trattoria serves the classic foods of that culture. A joint venture of Coalfire, Ristorante Agostino and Tempesta Market, and located in the heart of Little Italy, Peanut Trattoria celebrates the Italian dishes that everyone knows and loves.
Dinner at Peanut Park Trattoria begins in the classic way, with foccacia, meatballs, octopus in arrabiata sauce, fritto misto or salumi, a mesmerizing platter of hot coppa, mortadella, prosciutto de Parma and giardiniera, the perfect way to prepare the palate for a tour de force of Italian-American gastronomy.
After a salad -- chicories or panzanella -- comes the house-made pasta, the kind of dish you'd expect to receive at any Italian-American joint that wants you to understand that they take themselves seriously. There's rigatoni, pappardelle, linquine vongole and gnocchi, the heartwarming, homestyle cooking that for years has been proudly served in the kitchens of Italian-Americans all over Chicago.
For secondi, the main course, there's chicken Parmagiana, a beautiful version of this classic dish, as well as a whole branzino, Berkshire pork country ribs, and 24-ounce bone-in rib eye.
For dessert, there's tiramisu (you cannot be surprised!), cannoli, and gelato.
To drink, make a selection from Peanut Park's sizeable wine list, with a large number of wines available by the glass, so you can sample a few as you eat your way through the menu.
Peanut Park’s bar and dining room make you feel right at home; as Lisa Futterman reports in Thrillist, it feels "cozy and rustic, just like a trattoria should, with weathered dark reclaimed wood floors and vibrant tufted apple green leather banquettes towards the rear. A spacious outdoor rooftop deck with a retractable roof will debut next summer."
Peanut Park offers the comfort and delliciousness of having dinner at your Italian grandmother's house. It is a wonderful experience.
