The grim stretch of Kinzie Street in the shadow of the Merchandise Mart is the last place you’d expect to find a sunny piece of Provence, but that’s part of the reason Pili Pili is such a pleasant surprise.
Named after a type of African chili pepper, Pili Pili is the latest restaurant by Jack Weiss, managing partner of Coco Pazzo and Coco Pazzo Cafe. Chef Francois de Melogue’s menu is grounded in the rustic cuisine of southern France, but borrows liberally from Spain, Italy and North Africa, offering everything from pasta to pistou.
On a recent visit, we started with the artichoke tarte tatin ($7.25), a savory interpretation of the classic upside-down apple tart. In this version, thin slices of artichoke heart are layered with parmesan cheese and oven-dried tomatoes (not the chewy sun-dried variety) and puff pastry. It’s baked until the cheese starts to caramelize and finally inverted onto a dish. It’s served with an olive emulsion, essentially house-made mayonnaise made with olive oil and bits of nicoise olives (they could make a fortune selling this stuff by the jar). Topped with a good dollop of that mayo, this buttery little slice of heaven probably contains 1,000 grams of fat, but it’s worth several hours on the Stairmaster.
Other starters include the simple but sublime salad of arugula, cured ham and shaved parmesan, a charcuterie plate (cured meats, pates, cornichons and onion confit) and the tomato-based Marseilles fish soup.
Entrees range from classic bistro dishes such as steak frites (the most expensive dish on the menu at $19.50) to Italian-inspired pastas such as Swiss chard gnocchi with veal, porcini mushrooms and tomato sauce ($12) to Moroccan-style spit-roasted lamb over Israeli couscous ($16).
Standouts include spit-roasted pork, served with roasted fennel, eggplant and red pepper, and potato gratin ($16.50) and the aforementioned lamb, which arrived at the table in a vapor of cumin and exotic spices. It’s a generous portion of perfectly seasoned meat over almond and chickpea-studded couscous.
Desserts were a little on the expensive side at $8. Some nearly justify the price, like the “tournesol” (French for sunflower), essentially a tower of small scoops of coconut ice cream separated by crispy, paper-thin slices of oven-dried pineapple. But the lemon mille fuille, a light-as-air rectangle of flaky pastry dough layered with lemon curd, was light on lemon. Sure, it’s pretty, but for a tiny thing made mostly of air, $8 seems a little steep.
The dining room is spare, if not a little chilly, with high ceilings and stone tile floors. A separate cafe area is open all day for off-hours and late-night dining; the cafe menu features lighter versions of dishes served in the dining room. A lunch menu offers sandwiches, pasta, soups, salads and pizzas. For now, Pili Pili is BYOB, but management expects to have its liquor license by the beginning of May.
Pili Pili
230 W. Kinzie St.
312-464-9988
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