By Mike Sula
As a food writer, I'm beginning to view the appearance of every new Italian restaurant with existential dread. In terms of word slinging, the battle between steak houses and Italian spots for Chicago restaurant hegemony throughout the last few years has me running low on ammo.
While there are fresh things to write and be excited about (Osteria Langhe, Animale), I fear the oversupply of new, formulaic, pan-Italian pizza-pasta-piattini pushers might be creating an impression among unseasoned eaters that one of the world's greatest cuisines is molto repetitivo. My instinct is to disregard these restaurants in favor of any kind that smells even remotely original.
Source: http://www.chicagoreader.com/