Author and Photographer: Talia Friedman

Etta, located in the restaurant hub of River North, serves delicious wood-fired pizzas along with a rotating variety of housemade pastas and fresh fresh salads. I first discovered Etta during the fall of my first year, when my mom came to visit me for the first time and it was so good that we ate there every single night during her trip. Their elevated variations of these simple dishes along with the beautifully rustic ambiance of the restaurant make for an amazing dining experience.

I booked a reservation for Etta on a warm Saturday night and the host was able to seat us on their gorgeous outdoor patio. The patio is enclosed from the street by a row of potted plants and flowers and is lit by string lights, all of which create a cozy yet vibrant atmosphere. Our waiter greeted us promptly and my friend and I began making the impossible decisions of what to order.

Starters

We started with the restaurant’s most popular starter, the fire-baked focaccia. These small portions of focaccia are baked in individual dishes and served hot and fresh. Each focaccia comes with a honey and truffle ricotta spread and while the bread at any Italian restaurant is usually one of the highlights of the meal, this focaccia took the standard to another level. My friend and I even ordered a second focaccia to have one of our other starters, the burrata, which is fresh mozzarella with cream folded into the middle of it. Etta serves theirs with prosciutto and pea greens tossed in a perfectly acidic and salty champagne vinaigrette. The combination of the fresh bread, creamy burrata and salty prosciutto and fresh greens made for the absolute perfect bite. We also ordered the ricotta pillows, which were fluffy gnocchi with ricotta mixed into the dough served with a butter sauce and fava sprouts. While they tasted good, the small portion size was not worth the price. But overall, the starters alone were enough to make this a 10/10 experience.

Mains

For the mains, we ordered the wild mushroom pizza and the casarecce bolognese. All of Etta’s pizzas are thin crust and made with fresh dough. The mushroom pizza is one of their white pies and in addition to the mushrooms is topped with caramelized onions, goat cheese and an abundance of truffle oil. I don’t even like mushrooms and I fell in love with this pizza. The creaminess of the goat cheese and explosion of truffle flavor, along with the perfectly fluffy crust made this the perfectly elevated mushroom pizza. The casarecce bolognese was also up to this standard. Casarecce is a short twisted pasta and Etta makes all of their pastas in house. The pasta had an incredible texture and was complemented by a delicious bolognese that tasted fresh and comforting. It was topped with a parmesan fondue which gave it an extra element of saltiness that helped create the perfect flavor profile.

Unfortunately, we were too full for dessert but they gifted us their celebration dessert, birthday cake macarons (it was my birthday dinner). In the past, I’ve had date cake and I absolutely recommend this dessert. It is a sticky cake served with a passionfruit and toffee syrup (an unlikely combination but it absolutely worked), candied pecans and a vanilla whipped cream. It was served warm and was perfectly sweet and salty and was the perfect finisher to an incredible meal.

Overall, of the several times I’ve been to Etta, they have never disappointed. They are always changing their menu but keeping the classics, like the focaccia and pizzas, to provide a slightly different experience every time. If you are looking for a more upscale yet cozy restaurant with a variety of simple yet elevated dishes, I highly recommend Etta.

Etta Review

Author and Photographer: Talia Friedman

Starters

Mains