Topo Gigio

Mark and I took his mom for dinner at Topo Gigio before seeing a show at The Second City last weekend. For those unfamiliar with Topo Gigio, he was a silly mouse puppet character on an Italian children's show in the 1960s (that's an image of him above). The Italian restaurant is named in his honor and features his likeness in a few of its decorations.

We headed to the Old Town hot spot and started with an appetizer of buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar. I have a bit of a love affair with buffalo mozzarella (see here) and this appetizer was really fantastic. The restaurant also provides some bread for dipping and it was a great start to the meal.

For dinner, we decided to get three things we would all share. I ordered the Petti di Pollo Fiorentina - chicken breast sauteed with pancetta, spinach, and mozzarella. It was served with roasted potatoes and asparagus. It was a good meal, but would have been better with less cheese.

Mark's mom ordered the Eggplant Parmesan. I'm a snob when it comes to this dish because my Grandma makes a version that no restaurant compares to. Topo Gigio's version is breaded too heavily and is loaded with too much cheese. Plus, the portion is out of control. I like eating a lot, but this crossed the line to wasteful.

Mark's dish was the best of the night. He ordered the homemade linguine pasta served with a perfectly spiced red cream sauce and is topped with a generous serving of shellfish, including a bit of lobster and lots of scallops. It was a really delicious sauce, the pasta was perfection and I love shellfish. I would absolutely go back to order this dish.

While our meals weren't all perfect, the appetizer and pasta dish are enough to make me want to return sometime.

Tab: About $15-20 per entree