A NEW “IN” Spot in the city

Highly Recommended **** Not being a part of the  “scene”, and having moved to the suburbs, we do not get to the new restaurants in the city as often as we would like to. Our theater schedule also prohibits waiting at the bar for a table. Last night, we did get a chance to try a new place (for us, at least) that our kids said we would enjoy. The spot- Siena Tavern located at 51 West Kinzie (at Dearborn) in the heart of the city. In fact, we were not that far from the Theater District. On a nice night, a short walk to The Chicago Theatre, the Oriental or even the Cadillac Palace.

This will be a min-review as we did not truly get the opportunity to try a variety of menu items. I did watch several items go by us as they were served to others and truly had my interest “sparked”. Can’t wait to go back! For our Antipasta, we chose the Marinated shrimp and calamari faro, green bean, roasted peppers, celery, basil, herb mustard vinaigrette, which we shared. Ask for bread as the sauce is perfect for dipping. Their number one item is a giant meatball, which looked amazing as it was served to the booth behind us. The menu is filled with pasta items (house made) and I opted to do the “Carbona in a jar”- a unique preparation of Man N’ Cheese delivered in a jar, shaken (not stirred, just like my martini) and the poured into a bowl- absolutely delicious!

Jane selected one of the Pizza Bar  menu items- truffle mushroom roasted, garlic cream, mozzarella and white truffle oil on a thin and very crispy pizza dough. I am not a mushroom person, but found this to be tasty and the crust was as good as any pizza parlor (in fact, maybe even better).  We did not order dessert, but our server Parker ( who truly knows how to make a guest feel comfortable and was always there to serve our needs) knowing it was our Anniversary brought us a special chef prepared ice cream/cake combo that was “to die for”! Although we were both full, we ate every bit of this wonderful treat.

While the menu is somewhat pizza and pastas, they also have  lots of meat and fish dishes- Halibut, Scallop (the table to our left had that and they appeared to be in heaven), a 36 ounce Porterhouse that serves two, salmon, chicken and lots of options on sides and salads. I would have to imagine that if you can’t find something on this menu, you are either not hungry or have major problems in make a choice. You can take a look at their menu by visiting http://www.sienatavern.comwhere you can also learn about their catering and private parties. They have outdoor seating available and a spacious indoor area with a bar that serves the best of drinks.

Siena Tavern is part of a group called the Dineamic Group- I plan to go back and try some of the other items on this very special menu.