Fornello-Mei
107 East Delaware Place, Chicago
312.573.6300
ITLC's Overall Rating: A
Cuisine: A   Ambiance: A   Service: A

Executive Chef Joe Rosetti (AKA Marco Polo) travels from Italy to Formosa. Here's your sneak preview of the dinner menu at The Whitehall Hotel's new, totally redesigned restaurant, Fornello-Mei. The name is a combination of the Italian for stove-in this case, a wood-burning oven-and Taiwanese for beautiful, pronounced may. It's a departure from the current fashion of fusing the foods of different cultures. Instead, this new Pan-Italian restaurant pays distinct homage to the major regional cuisines of Italy while directly acknowledging the contributions of Oriental cooking to Occidental tables.

The mid-November opening is widely anticipated. This review is predictive of greatness, given three things: our sampling of some of the new Pan-Italian items on the "under construction" menu; a look at projected Oriental dishes from Formosa (currently Taiwan); and, above all, our many prior experiences with Chef Joe's fine, fine cooking.

Italian starters ($5-12) include a fabulous San Danielle prosciutto with pears, frisČe, toasted pistachios and a hint of organic lavender honey. Don't miss the salmon carpaccio with Italian beets, oranges, arugula and ricotta-sweet, earthy and cool. The Manila clams are small and succulent, dressed with an herbal perfume of marjoram, breadcrumbs and cheese. Tempting pastas ($11-19) include trenette (thin string pasta) with an honest-to-goodness Bolognese veal sauce, with braised, not ground, veal. (It was so good that the server risked life and limb when he tried to prematurely remove my plate!) The short-rib and scallop risotto with butternut squash, crisp salsify and fennel pollen? Sandy Dennis comes to mind: "Oh, my god!" (The Out-of-Towners, 1970)

Mains ($19-32) offer the likes of brodetto (fish stew), which is replete with scallops, mussels, rock shrimp, clams and fregola (a pasta akin to couscous and dried in a wood oven); the crowning touch was the heady aroma of saffron, tomatoes and herbs. Chef Joe offers a superlative example of wood-grilled veal chop-thick, tasty and cooked to perfection, served with creamy polenta, Brussels sprouts and pancetta. This is but a sampling of an extensive and irresistible list of menu items.

Rounding out the Italian menu, and bridging to the Orient, Fornello-Mei will offer individual, 12-inch thin-crust pizzas from its new wood-burning oven. (Can't wait to try the Peking duck pizza with pickled mustard greens and tofu-no tomato and cheese!) In addition, look for Oriental dishes from Formosa: honey and garlic spareribs; handmade dumplings from Mei's kitchen; Mei's grandmother's steamed buns; and larger dishes, such as Peking Duck and Szechwan spicy beef noodle soup.

Desserts will feature signature dishes, including Oolong tea-infused panna cotta with apricot sauce and pizzelle cookies. You can look forward to Sommelier Tony Burger's complementing wines. To top it all off, everything on the menu is available as carry-out! Need some help with a dinner party? Want a kick-back evening at home after a hard day's work, but wondering what you'll do for supper? Just call ahead to Fornello-Mei.

Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5:30pm-10:00pm
Friday-Saturday 5:30pm-11:00pm
Lunch: Monday-Saturday 11:30am-3:00pm
Brunch: Sunday 11:00am-3:00pm