WEST TOWN — The team behind Taylor Street Three Aces have officially opened their Italian-inspired restaurant Charlatan.
The "locally sourced, modern Italian-inspired" spot, 1329 W. Chicago Ave., opened in West Town Wednesday.
Executive chef Matt Troost's menu includes whipped mortadella, rabbit casoncelli, a whole oxtail and a roasted pig's head for two ($55). Other house-made pastas, crudos and "old-school Italian" dishes are also featured.
The team's overall mission was to make Charlatan an "Italian countryside meets Midwestern farmhouse" destination, said co-owner Anthony Potenzo.
Troost came up with the restaurant’s name, Potenzo said, which is meant to represent “a showman, who does much with little” not a “huckster, impersonator.”
Charlatan's focus is transformation — what it takes to start with a “lesser cut of meat and [turn] it into a red wine-braised pork cheek with polenta, oxtail agnolotti, or roasted pig head in all its glory.”
With seating for 99, Charlatan takes over the much-loved West Town Tavern, which unexpectedly closed in 2013 before becoming a short-lived home to pop-up Chicago Taco.
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