River North's swanky Italian go-to

When a super-team decides to go Italian, the first step is always to make sure Ed Norton doesn't get upset his character's name is just "Steve" and mail it in. Bill & Giuliana Rancic clearly got that out of the way right after joining forces with both the Melmans and a French Laundry vet on their newest, boot-based venture: 8000 seriously swanky square feet of dark blacks & startling whites played out over mohair booths, glowing partitions, and oversized dome lights.

Kick things off with poached egg-topped polenta laden with Parm 'n black truffle, wood-roasted balls of prime beef, and fennel 'n olive sea bass crudo, also a phrase frequently heard muttered by Italians leaving Dumb & Dumber. Made fresh in-house, pastas range from duck agnolotti w/ Brussels sprouts & Mission figs, to spicy king crab over squid ink spaghetti, while proteins include for-two preparations of dry-aged Tuscan porterhouse, and grilled whole branzino w/ salsa verde and Sicilian capers, which explains why somebody offed the branzino before it could be grilled.

Sauce-wise, they've tapped the ex-Whistler barmaster to commandeer 'tails, and a 100-strong vino list covers everything from Super Tuscans, to Intense & Aromatic Whites, though it's only when Ed Norton noticeably lacks intensity that he really begins to stink.