One of my favorite restaurant genres is the travel-inspired restaurant; a chef goes abroad, sometimes for a vacation, sometimes for much longer, and comes back so inspired by the cuisine that they decide to dig deep and learn it. Us mere civilians might buy a cookbook or two after our travels; chef Joe Flamm decided to open an entire restaurant, il Carciofo, based on the Roman cuisine that he fell in love with.
Back in 2017, Flamm worked at several restaurants in Rome, and the cuisine got under his skin. But, for whatever reason, it never quite felt like the right time to open an homage to Italy, and in the meantime, he opened the acclaimed Rose Mary and took the reins at BLVD. The space for il Carciofo, in a new building on Fulton and Aberdeen, inspired him to give it a go. “It reminded me of places in Rome on the piazzas,” explains Flamm. “For me, it was an itch I had to scratch, something I knew I wanted and couldn’t find in the city.”
Flamm’s goal with il Carciofo is to introduce Chicagoans to real Roman flavors, not to create a personal version of the classics. “Americans love riffing things — taking them home and reinventing them,” Flamm laughs. “We want to focus on the products and the techniques and do them in the best way that we can, and try to create something that feels really true to form.” Think of classic Roman pastas like cacio e pepe or aglio e olio without a lot of extra fluff but done just as well as possible.
The name, il Carciofo, means “the Artichoke,” and is inspired by Flamm’s visits to Roman markets. When he arrived in the city, it was springtime and he went to the famous Campo de’ Fiori and artichokes were everywhere. “It’s a dish that is synonymous with Rome and Roman cuisine,” Flamm explains. So of course they will be on the menu, and Flamm is importing artichokes straight from Rome, frying them slowly, and tossing them with pecorino romano cheese and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. A Roman restaurant has to have pizza, of course, and Flamm is particularly excited about making pizza al taglio, the Roman-style of rectangular pizza with a light crust.
Beverages are under the watchful eye of veteran bar manager Kyle Davidson, who in addition to an all-Italian wine list (with a focus on, surprise, the area around Rome), has created a cocktail menu designed to take guests through a meal. With an extensive selection of drinks designed as aperitifs and digestifs, you can stick to liquor without burning out your palate.
Flamm has watched the West Loop change over the last decade, and his idea of the perfect restaurant for the area has changed with it. “I was part of the opening team at Girl and Goat, and people couldn’t believe we were opening there,” Flamm remembers. Now, the neighborhood has become much more residential, and at Rose Mary, Flamm sees a ton of families dining out every night. “I never in a million years when I was at BellyQ would have thought you’d see that many kids out in the West Loop at 5.” That informs the style of il Carciofo; not that it’s particularly kid-focused, but that it is aiming to be a more casual dining experience. He says, “You can come sit at the bar and have an appetizer and a glass of wine and be out the door, or you could come do it up, sit at a table and order big Italian wines.”
Reservations for the new restaurant are live now and opening day is December 12. Things are booking up pretty quickly, so snag your seats now if you want an early look.