Elegant touches soften the blow at pricey Prosecco

Maybe you fancy yourself an Italian food connoisseur. Perhaps you enjoy a snort of limoncello from time to time. No doubt burrata and broccoli rabe grace the shelves of your fridge.

In that case, my friends, Prosecco is for you. It celebrates the variety of Italian cuisine -- and does so with considerable swagger.

The recently opened, highly anticipated restaurant comes from Kathryn Sullivan-Alvera (Narcisse, Domaine) and sibs Mark and Stefania Sparacino (Sparacino Ristorante, Traveling Fare Catering), and it's already showing a lot of promise among those willing to dish out big bucks to dine.

At first glance, the curtain-swathed dining room (the former home of here-one-day-gone-the-next Xel-Ha) is subdued -- mature even -- with muted cream and tones that complement its namesake bubbly. Friendly, helpful servers, however, help bring the Venetian glamour down to earth.

The menu, we're afraid, does result in sticker shock. Once the eye scans the $6 house salad, there's nary a first course below the $10 mark. Elegant touches to even the simplest of selections, though, help to soften the blow.

Our oh-so-deluxe meal began with a multitextured surf-and-turf affair: diver scallop stuffed with braised beef short rib and sinfully creamy saffron risotto. Both lovely to eat and view, it was an indulgence worth having.

In contrast, the $14 price tag for the avocado salad was a bitter pill. Despite its potentially flavorful touches (basil oil and balsamic glaze) and luxurious ingredients -- melt-in-your-mouth baby lobster tail and prawn -- it was too bland to warrant a repeat visit.

The carpaccio is another story, however. Warm, thinly sliced, air-dried bresaola nearly sucked us in, but we nonetheless settled on top-notch, just-seared tenderloin with peppery arugula, salty Parmesan and sweet, zingy balsamic reduction.

There are plenty of other ways to begin, no one less appealing than the next. A roasted beet, fennel, honey tangerine and asparagus salad with arugula and radicchio in pinot nero vinaigrette might give way to prosciutto-accented snails with Vecchia Romagna-garlic cream reduction.

Or a bed of Gorgonzola-studded watercress, pear and walnuts drizzled with port-pistachio oil vinaigrette could pave the way for a blend of black mussels and littleneck clams under a cloak of saffron cream sauce.

The pastas are plenty tempting -- taunting even -- since you have to choose one.

There are traditional choices such as orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe in garlicky olive oil and rigatoni with pancetta and sausage in a light tomato cream sauce.

But it was the more complex orecchiette with earthy wild mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes and rich black truffle cream sauce, shavings of Grana Padano and a touch of white truffle oil that caught (and retained) our attention.

Mind you, the menu is seasonal, so you might not find the house-made ricotta dumplings prepared quite the same way from one time to the next.

A number of the seafood selections, such as grilled, pepper-crusted ahi with capers and mustard-balsamic vinaigrette, are enough to make you salivate on the spot. And we'd bet money that the striped bass with sweet peppers, olives, cherry tomatoes and golden raisins is to die for.

That said, we're not sorry we opted for the salty-sublime veal saltimbocca with prosciutto, oozing mozzarella and tomato and brandy-infused sage cream sauce. Caramelized onion mashed potatoes and garlicky sautéed spinach put it over the edge.

You could try the filet with sun-dried tomato butter, caramelized shallot-port reduction and horseradish potatoes; deboned Cornish hen stuffed with polenta, porcini, chestnuts, sausage and black truffle with fingerling potatoes; or double pork chop with roasted red peppers and caramelized onion mashed potatoes, too.

Desserts carry the experience to a grand finale. While nothing offered is too out there, it's plenty lavish. The warm double chocolate cake -- a sophisticated alternative to the seen-everywhere lava cake -- gets dressed with memorable rosemary-accented blood orange sauce and a touch of crème anglaise.

The layered, baked apple tart -- served with cinnamon ice cream -- is comforting, familiar and satisfying without being heavy.

In addition to the 50 or so Proseccos on the menu, you'll find that sparkling wines are used readily in cooking. The staff is articulate about the menu backward and forward. Our only complaint, really, was that the duration of the meal was lengthy. We attribute this to the restaurant's new-on-the-scene status and were therefore willing, at least for now, to wait for our fare. After all, it was pretty fab.

Prosecco

710 N. Wells St., Chicago, (312) 951-9500

Cuisine: Italian

Setting: Polished, neutral-toned dining room

Price range: Appetizers $11 to $14; soups $6 to $14; entrees $16 to $38; desserts $8 to $10

Hours: 5 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 5 to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

Accepts: Major credit cards