On Saturday, my parents and I met out in Oak Brook at Antico Posto, a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant we hadn’t tried. They describe themselves as “carefully hidden” in Oak Brook Center, and that’s accurate — OBC is a large outdoor mall and Antico Posto is wedged in a little corner off the beaten path.

We typically order a lot of things and split them around the table. We got the asparagus ricotta gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, prosciutto-and-melon salad, and the spinach-and-strawberry salad. My parents ate the prosciutto and melon and said it was delicious. I tried everything else and it was all delicious too. The gnocchi in particular — made in-house, light, fresh, and fluffy — was our favorite, and it came served in a brown butter sauce with fresh asparagus, halved cherry tomatoes, and parmesan cheese.

When the waiter learned it was my birthday he said they’d have to bring us a dessert, and my dad insisted on “nothing embarrassing,” which we clarified to mean: No singing or attention. Antico Posto has a genius dessert arrangement, which is that you can choose from a variety of desserts in small, reasonable quantities for $1 each or full-sized versions for more. That in mind, we opted to get the trial size of all six and just took little bites of each one. The flourless chocolate cake had a nice little candle in it.

My parents and I have a favorite Italian restaurant in St Charles called Pi Pizza Perfection (how can I not love it? There’s a math joke right in the name), but as my dad pointed out, they don’t do great salads and Antico Posto does. Produce can really make or break your whole meal, and in my experience with the Lettuce Entertain You group, they do a great job with fresh ingredients.

I would definitely go back to Antico Posto, and the prices were reasonable enough that I actually could.

Comments