BaPi retains its elegant charm
Having enjoyed a meal at BaPi a few years earlier, I was at once surprised and comforted that the Arlington Heights restaurant was exactly as I'd found it three years ago: charming and elegant with a steady audience of regulars.
I also found it to be the perfect Sunday night family dinner spot. Several families with young children, as well as couples, enjoyed dinner while being chatted to by towering owner chef Cristiano Bassani, who also greeted a big group later on in perfect Italian.
There's an elegance to the place. An otherwise nondescript strip mall facade gets a splash of color from several tables lining the outside, along with colorful pots of flowers hanging from above. Inside, powder blue walls are adorned with colorful abstract canvasses, and cobalt blue sconces pick up the same shade from the thick stemmed water glasses.
We were greeted with an addictive, warm focaccia bread to be dipped in an olive oil that's made specially for the restaurant and bottled in Italy.
Maybe there was something in the air that night, but most everything we spotted on the menu — from the antipasti, to the insalate, to primi and secondi — held great promise. Since the success of eggplant preparation is a measure of any good Italian restaurant, we tried the rotolino di melanzane. Half a dozen eggplant rolls, like tiny crepes, burst with ricotta cheese over a bright red tomato sauce that packed just the right amount of heat.
Another antipasti, the prosciutto salami, was just as satisfying — quality meat cut paper thin and interspersed with big chunks of Parmesan.
Entrees were not an easy choice, either: from homemade meat tortellini and fettuccine with shrimp and porcini, to braised rabbit with polenta and roasted half duck with oranges.
We went with a special of American cod. It was a delicately cooked filet with a tomatoey seafood broth, sautéed with calamari, baby octopus and mussels.
The pork chop was irresistible, too: Pounded into a diametrically large yet slight crunchy breaded disk, it was set over deliciously salty roasted potatoes and a handful of arugula.
Even the obligatory kid dish — pasta in red sauce — featured perfectly al dente plump spaghetti in a tomato sauce, wholly enjoyed by an otherwise temperamental 2-year-old.
We ended the meal with a predictable, but wonderful flourless chocolate cake served with fresh berries. That, combined with the strong, foamy cappuccino chef Bassani himself brought our way, made a perfect end to our meal.
BaPi Ristorante
1510 Hintz Road, Arlington Heights, (847) 253-2333, bapiusa.com
Cuisine: Northern Italian
Setting: Elegant white tablecloth restaurant with Italian chatter
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday
Entrees: $10-$16