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Are Dolinsky’s Favorite Italian Restaurants Certifiably Authentic?

Tortelli alla primavera from Piccolo Sogno
Tortelli alla primavera from Piccolo Sogno Photo: courtesy of Facebook

Last week it was all chicken Parmesan, red sauce, and the Italian restaurants you should avoid, but, as promised, Steve Dolinsky is back this week to present his top five Italian restaurants. Piccolo Sogno is the slightly surprising number one pick, especially considering it beat out Tony Mantuano’s Spiaggia — his number two — for the top spot. But that’s really it on the surprises. Terragusto, Riccardo Trattoria, and Pelago round out the top five. The question we had was whether this list coincided with that questionably official list of the most authentic Italian restaurants in town.

When we first had a look at that list, only eight restaurants were considered to be truly authentic according to Italy’s National Institute of Tourist Research. But since then the list has grown to 18. Of Dolinsky’s five picks, four of them make the cut. The only one not included is Terragusto. Of course, each restaurant had to submit an application to even be considered for the list, so it’s totally possible that the restaurant just didn’t fill out the form.

Oh well, what do you think of the picks? Any places he left off?

Top 5 Italian restaurants in Chicago [WBEZ]
18 Chicago Italian restaurants earn ‘authentic’ seal [Sun-Times]

Are Dolinsky’s Favorite Italian Restaurants Certifiably Authentic?