Mano a Mano

Four courses, four pours, and a lineup that wanders past the usual suspects: a Passerina from the Marche next to fried mozzarella and tuna carpaccio, a Loli pet nat with sweet corn agnolotti and rigatoni carbonara, an Aglianico from Terre Stregate holding its own against meatballs and eggplant parm, and Bellissimo espresso liqueur poured tableside over gelato because dessert deserves a pairing too.

Tuesday, August 25. 6:30 to 9:00 PM. $105 a seat, and the table is meant to be shared.

Swipe for the full menu & join us!

Ravioletti, made by hand every morning. Ricotta inside, bone marrow butter to finish, asparagus and candied lemon for the bright edge that keeps it from getting heavy. The sauce gets glazed tight around the pasta rather than pooled beneath it.

Microplaned pecorino, one turn of black pepper, and straight to your table.

Late summer on the Amalfi Coast tastes like this. Mussels, clams, calamari, olives, tomatoes at their peak, and a lemon charred just enough.

The whole thing arrives sealed in parchment and gets opened at the table. Branzino al cartoccio, cooked in its own steam so nothing escapes. That's the Amalfi approach: simple, because the ingredients don't need help.

It's the fourth course of our first Classics Dinner. Every month we're picking a region of Italy and cooking our way through it, and we're starting where late summer belongs. Five courses, $68 a seat, next Thursday the 13th.

Swipe for the pizza marinara and the full menu. Tickets at the link in bio.

We made a limited run of something special: House-made pappardelle folded with sweet crab, blistered local-farm yellow tomatoes, bright lemon, and a snowfall of parmesan. Silky, citrusy, and here only until we sell out. Come get it while you can.

Orata.

Mediterranean sea bream — sweet, delicate, and best left whole. We roast it bone-in so the skin crisps and the flesh stays exactly as tender as it should be, then let summer do the rest: heirloom beans, tomato crudo, basil oil. Nothing that gets in the way.

It's the kind of dish that only makes sense right now, which is why it's only here right now.

Orata con Crudo di Pomodoro

It all starts with extra virgin olive oil, water, flour, and a pair of practiced hands.

Watch Juanito work: stretching, coaxing, spinning it overhead like it's the easiest thing in the world (it isn't). This is focaccia di Recco — a Ligurian classic with no yeast, no rise, just two whisper-thin sheets of dough cradling molten stracchino between them.

Into the oven it goes, blistering fast and hot until the top turns golden and the cheese underneath goes gloriously gooey. Out comes the pie, crackling and crisp, ready to be cut and eaten while it's still too hot to be sensible about it.

Recco brought it to the world. Juanito brings it to Logan Square.

Come pull a piece apart with us.

To all good dogs who showed out to our pawty Saturday-- thank you!

The rain cleared out just in time, and the patio filled up with the best crowd we could ask for — good dogs, their people, pup cones, pizza, and a whole lot of tail wags. From the doggy pool to the dog stick library, you all showed up and pawtied with us, and our hearts (and the water bowls) are full.

The best part? Getting to do it alongside PAWS Chicago . A portion of the day's sales goes to support their work finding loving homes for dogs and cats across the city — including sweet Weaver, who came to the pawty straight from PAWS looking for his people.

To every pup and every person who joined us: thank you for pawtying with us. We loved having you, and we can't wait to do it again.

Until next time — stay good, dogs.

Before the negroni, there was the Americano — Campari, sweet vermouth, and soda, the classic Italian aperitivo. Legend has it Count Camillo Negroni asked a Florence bartender to make his stronger: gin in for the soda. That was 1919. The ritual hasn't changed since.

We serve it five ways — classic, bianco, sbagliato, mezcal, or the phony one. Ask your server which one's calling your name.

ATTENTION ALL GOOD DOGS IN CHICAGO: you're officially invited to the Mano a Mano Summer Pizza Pawty.

Round up your best friend and come to the patio on Saturday, July 18 from 1–3 PM for a dog-friendly brunch party! On the pup menu: dog pizza, buttered noodles, pup cones, and house-made treats. There's a doggy pool to splash in, a dog stick library to dig into, and — best of all — PAWS Chicago will be here with adoptable pups looking for their people.

Pup menu & prosecco sales benefit PAWS Chicago

📍 Mano a Mano · Logan Square
🗓️ Saturday, July 18 · 1–3 PM
🪑 Patio seating — reservations recommended

Swipe through for the full scoop, then send this to your favorite dog parent and tag who you're bringing. See you (and your good dog) on the patio!

Nose to Tail, in every course.

This Thursday we're partnering with Slagel Family Farm for a dinner that honors the whole animal — house-cured salumi and porchetta to start, crispy pig's feet dressed light with summer vegetables, pistachio-brown butter ravioli, slow-braised rigatoni, a Milanese-style cotoletta finished with anchovy butter, and popcorn gelato to close.

$68 per person · Thursday, July 16 · Reservations linked in bio.