Chef/Partner Tony Mantuano and Executive Chef/Top Chef Winner Joe Flamm introduced new spring menus at Spiaggia. The new menus, which rotate seasonally and regionally, are inspired by Rome, a region currently experiencing similar weather to Chicago, allowing the team to source similar ingredients and offer authentic fare with fava beans (a veggie that helped Flamm come back from Last Chance Kitchen), ramps, English peas, green garlic, pea shoots and more.
The new 5-course and 8-course tasting menus start Vignarola, a dish that in Rome is synonymous with the season and embraces the plants that “grow between the vines.” Spiaggia’s features fava beans, English peas, green garlic and pea shoots, and is refreshed with the addition of a young chicken egg and lemon zest, then place it over toasted bread. Another standout includes Aglio e Olio featuring a fermented ramp dough rolled into agnolotti by Flamm himself and then stuffed with parmesan and fonduta, and finished with spicy herbs and spicy-infused olive oil tableside. There is also the Ippoglosso, a wild line-caught halibut crusted with artichokes, breadcrumbs and herbs, and served with confit radishes and finished with brodo. To finish, Pastry Chef Joey Schwab prepares an ancient Roman honey cake served with rhubarb basil sorbet, bubble gum poached rhubarb and buttermilk.
In addition, new this spring, Spiaggia will be featuring both a global wine pairing as well as a reserve Italian wine pairing. The global pairing features a different country with each course, a global experience, and includes wines as far as Croatia, New Zealand and beyond. The Italian reserve pairing features beautiful regions from around the country like Piemonte, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Alto Adige and Umbria.
The regular a la carte menu has also been refreshed for the season and includes one of Flamm’s Top Chef winning dishes, the Tonno Vitellato, a play on the traditional with bluefin tuna, veal aioli, crispy caper and smoked wagyu, the Piccolo Salmone, a take on the classic antipasti with sardines yet made with salmon cured in a similar style and served with an asparagus and herb salsa verde. There is also the Corzetti, a stamp pasta served with Roman-style oxtails, and Risotto all’Amatriciana, a dish typically done as a pasta with tomatoes, chiles, pecorino and guanciale, topped with onion ash
