Vinci Restaurant

good food, good drinks, good atmosphere!  oh ..the spinach was amazing!

I tend to give Italian restaurants a hard time because I can cook paste. For Italian food to WOW me, it has to be something I am not able to even think about making because it's so complex. Having said this, I feel that Vinci is ok. I've been there one for Sunday brunch and once for carry-out dinner. The brunch was nice as it was during the summer and the patio is cute outside. I had a frittata and being that it was the first time I had one, I enjoyed it fairly. As soon as I learned how it was made, I always cook them in my house and they come out just as good. When I went for dinner another time, I had split one of their vegetarian pizzas with my fiance and it was mediocre. I got talked into getting a dessert (one of their specials, something with pistachios) and it was mediocre too. I live pretty close to this place and I really have no desire to go again. I'd  MUCH rather go to Balena (my Italian heaven) and spend practically the same amount of $ for much better quality and unique food. There are so many Italian places within the 1 mile radius, you're pretty much better off trying somewhere else.

I love Groupon!  Groupon does an admirable job of getting us out of the neighborhood, trying restaurants that we might not normally discover.  Sure, sometimes they are duds.  But now and again, we find a real keeper.  

And on a recent trip to Vinci, we discovered just such a keeper.

We arrived ahead of the theatre crowd, and were promptly seated in the window.  The place filled up pretty quickly, but service was attentive and prompt.
We started with some bruschetti.  They have a few options available.  The one topped with sun-dried tomatoes was really good.  

I was excited to see that they offered a vegetarian option beyond the ubiquitous pasta with red sauce and "pasta primavera" which is code for the drowning of some broccoli in a heavy cream sauce.  The Vegetarian plate was really quite nice:  A grilled Portobello topped with bread crumbs and cheese, some roasted red peppers and squash, grilled asparagus, and a "polenta cake" sitting in a light tomato sauce.  Way too much food for me, but that is why we have take out boxes!  

The spouse had a hard time deciding between the Veal Satimbocca and the linguine with mussels, calamari, and shrimp.  He went with the linguine and proclaimed it quite tasty, but would have preferred a more substantial portion.   (That's okay, though.  When we got home he scarfed down my leftovers.)

Crème brulee was nice.  Made with blueberries.  Nothing mind blowing, but still quite nice.  

I also loved the fact that we could get a half bottle of wine!  A bottle is a tad too much for us to consume with dinner, but a half bottle is perfect.  I'm sure we will be back.

Be advised that their proximity to Steppenwolf and the Royal George makes them a very popular pre-theatre dining locale.  If you want a table between 6 and 7:30, make sure you make reservations.