Author's note: It is rare that I post a bad review, and I have received some criticism to this effect. Generally, when I don't like a place it is easily forgotten. These bad restaurants usually elicit indifference and inspire very few words. In short, they're not worth writing about. Rarely do I find bad results in a restaurant that I expect to enjoy. This is one of those cases.
Since I first visited Bruna's, it has been my "go-to" place for simple, fresh, Italian/Italian-American cuisine. I've been there a couple times with guests and I've sent quite a few people there with excellent results every time. The neighborhood is a bit of a throwback, and has always left me wondering about the other restaurants on the block: Ignotz, La Fontanella, and Bacchanalia. If Bruna's delivers such fresh, delicious food, then surely the other restaurants on the block must be in the same league. They have to compete, don't they?During a recent trip down to the Heart of Italy, four of us turned our back on Bruna's for the evening and decided to give Bacchanalia a try. I am disappointed that we did. The service was just fine, the atmosphere was full and festive, but the food just didn't cut it. Bacchanalia is not in Bruna's league by a long shot.
I was able to try a couple appetizers and three different entrees, thanks to my wandering fork. The appetizers included an unremarkable artichoke and some stuffed mushrooms. The mushrooms were as tough as a well-done steak and stuffed with a mushroom-mush that wasn't particularly palatable. I cook with mushrooms often, and I really have no idea how you turn a white button mushroom so tough that it requires sawing with a knife to cut it. I suspect the process involves cooking, cooling, and reheating.
For an entree, I chose one of the daily specials: cannelloni stuffed with porcini, portabella, and asparagus. I envisioned a fresh mixture of diced and minced mushrooms and asparagus. What I received was the cannelloni filled with the same unpleasant mush from the stuffed mushrooms and a few limp spears of asparagus. Finally, the entire concoction was covered in way too much cheese.
I also tasted the chicken vesuvio which was basically just dry chicken covered in garlic. It lacked the blending and depth of a variety of flavors that you find in a good vesuvio. There were quite a few "vesuvio" items on the menu (including one of the daily specials), and I imagined a big tub of "vesuvio-sauce" in the back that gets slapped on whatever meat is around.
We also had a plate of gnocchi for the table to share. As far as I'm concerned, even the best gnocchi I've ever tasted was just OK, and not much more than a pillowy vehicle for sauce (I've never understood the appeal). These particular gnocchi were fine, smothered in a pretty bland vodka sauce, and elicited palpable indifference from my taste buds.
I wanted to like Bacchanalia. I wanted them to echo the qualities that Bruna's has, but with their own flavor and flare. I wanted to taste homemade flavors, made with pride, just like at Bruna's. What I tasted was food that seemed like it was selected and thrown together without care or interest. Perhaps I caught it on a bad night or simply ordered wrong, but I don't think I'll be going back.
Bacchanalia is located at 2413 S. Oakley Ave., 773-254-6555. Cash only.