DiSotto Enoteca opening tonight: Menu

Jimmy Bannos and Scott Harris are at it again. Photo: Erica Gannett

While TOC was taking a brief holiday break, restaurateurs Scott Harris and Jimmy Bannos were staying characteristically busy. In December they opened Fat Rosie's (a taco bar in St. Charles with Raul Arreola, formerly of Mixteco Grill and Rustico Grill, also currently the masked chef behind the forthcoming food truck Tamalli Space Charros); Salatino's (the return of Mary Jo Gennaro's Italian-American food, in the space that was briefly Dean Zanella's ill-fated Aldino's); and Dough Boys (a pizzeria next door to Salatino's, which sells pizza by the yard, as pictured above).

Tonight, Harris will open his fourth establishment in the course of one month: DiSotto Enoteca, a wine bar beneath the unbelievably popular Francesca's on Chestnut (also a Harris restaurant, as I assume you all know). "DiSotto is a little Purple Pig, a little Davanti Enoteca and a lot of wine,” explains Harris in a press release. (Sorry, are you new here? Harris is also an owner of those two restaurants.) A streamlined nutrition pyramid menu of antipasti, bruschette, formaggi and salumi will carry the Gold Coast lingerers through all that wine, which includes about 35 by-the-glass selections, with a penchant toward Italy and Spain, with most hovering around $10 a glass. Best of all, DiSotto will be open until 1am during the week, 2am on Friday, and "maybe even 3am" on Saturday. ("As long as people are still coming in, we’ll stay open all night!," says Harris in the release.)

If the words "Ricotta and honeycomb" or "Rapini and crispy pancetta" mean as much to you as they do to me, check out the short menu of snacks after the jump for a taste of what it looks like when Purple Pig meets Davanti Enoteca.

DiSotto Enoteca, 200 E Chestnut, lower level (312-482-880). Sun–Thu 5pm–2am; Fri 5pm–3am; Sat 5pm–late (likely 3am). Average small plate: $8; Average glass of wine: $10.