1566 Oak Avenue (map)
(inside the Margarita Inn)
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 475-7779
www.va-p.com
$$$

Like the Verdi opera chorus for which it was named, Va Pensiero can banish your daily worries for a few hours, and immerse you into a world of comfortable and comforting Italian cooking. Since taking over Va Pensiero in 1997, owner and Executive Chef Jeff Muldrow’s vision for the restaurant has been to recreate a romantic 1920s Italian villa, and the large space he’s carved out of the adjacent hotel is warmly evocative.

The restaurant’s menu changes daily, with a spectacular selection of both rustic and nouveau preparations. Chef de cuisine Jesse DuMais’s mantra is to “use as little finished product as possible,” by sticking to what’s fresh and seasonally available. In the summer they frequent local farmers’ markets (Evanston’s may be the best), and actively support the Green City Organic Market. All pastas are hand-made every morning.

A recently sampled Sweet Potato Tortelloni with roasted pears, crushed amaretti cookies, and brown butter-sage sauce came together like a deliriously happy, odd-couple marriage. The overall effect was one of subtle flavor contrast and textural surprises– sweet potato, nutty pasta, roasted fruit, toasted brown butter, crispy fried sage, and sugary, slightly crunchy cookie– but all of it in perfect balance.