Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Nando Milano Trattoria in Champaign, Illinois, was the only Italian restaurant named among the “Best in Central Illinois” by Eater Chicago.
“Guests can expect to pay $100 per person for dinner before drinks and tip, and yes, lest you think your eyes deceive you, that is a $600 bottle of wine on the list,” Eater writes. However, the high prices are not a deterrent to the restaurant’s popularity in town.
Chef-owner Alessio Vullo, who first opened Nando Milano in Chicago, launched the second location after moving with his wife, who embarked on her medical internship in Champaign.
Appetizers include beef, ricotta and porcini-mushroom meatballs in arrabbiata sauce, as well as cavoletti ortolani, a “warm salad” made with butternut squash, fried chickpeas, almonds, Parmesan, textures of Brussels sprouts and truffle honey.
Pasta dishes include house-made potato gnocchi with fresh basil and mozzarella in a peeled baked tomato sauce with a touch of pesto, and paccheri with lobster and crab meat in the chef’s signature imperial sauce, also with a touch of pesto.
Seconds include pan-seared Chilean sea bass, black artemide rice, seasonal mixed vegetables in lemon-caper sauce, and prime New York strip steak with roasted potatoes, arugula, Parmesan, maitake and trumpet mushrooms, and shishito peppers.
Desserts include cannolo Siciliano, panna cotta ai frutti di bosco, tiramisu, and ricotta cheesecake.
For more, click here.
