Nico Osteria

Nico Osteria is an Italian restaurant that opened in December 2013, situated in the Thompson Hotel. The restaurant has as its notional executive chef Paul Kahan, whose best-known place is Blackbird, which he has run since 1999. However since he actually has seven outlets in Chicago Mr Kahan is presumably rarely behind the staves here. He previously worked at Topolobampo.

There is a dining area with open kitchen and bar seating, a large dining room with more seating upstairs, and a separate bar. There was a tasting menu at $125 as well as an extensive a la carte choice. The wine list was mostly but not exclusively Italian, with labels such as Sangiovese Sincero 2013 at $35 for a bottle that retails at around $16, Vallana Nebbiolo 1998 at $100 for a wine that you can find in a shop for $38, and Marcarini Brunate 2000 at $185 compared to a current market price of $67.

Dungeness crab (crab from Dungeness on the west coast of the USA rather than the nuclear power station of the same name on the Kent coast) was served on bruschetta with salt cod and celery, garnished with a few thin slices of radish. The crab was good and the overall effect was pleasantly refreshing (14/20). I had a Northern Italian ragu with rigatoni, the texture of the pasta excellent, but the meat was a little light on seasoning to my taste, and the sauce could have had deeper flavour (13/20).

 Turbot came with white asparagus and a lemon sauce, the fish correctly cooked though the fillet had come from a small turbot and did not have a great deal of flavour (13/20). Roast chicken had a foie gras and shallot stuffing, which was subtle to the point of invisibility, and a farro (wheat grain) salad with green garlic. The chicken was a little dry and had very little flavour, the salad pleasant but also inherently dry, so this was a dish crying out for a sauce (11/20).

Nico Osteria was wildly popular when we went, the large dining room and separate bar completely packed at 11:30 p.m. when we left. The bill came to $96 (£60) per person for two courses and with a bottle of the enjoyable Jermann Ribolla Gialla at $60 (compared to a shop price of $26), plus pre-dinner drinks. Service was genuinely excellent despite the pressure of a busy service, all the waitresses that we encountered being helpful, friendly and seeming to really care about their guests' experiences. It is a myth that service is universally good in the USA, but it certainly was here. Overall the experience was pleasant enough, and certainly the service and atmosphere were good, though it seemed to me just a touch costly for the level of food that appeared.