For the next dinner in our ongoing Last Thursdays events, Giuseppe has teamed up with Karen Rose of City Olive in Roscoe Village and Edgewater for an Olive Oil Dinner on Thursday, April 25, 2013.  Karen has paired exquisite olive oils to each of the five courses in this menu that begins with a surprising delicious olive oil cocktail and ends with a decadent chocolate olive oil cake.

Dinner is $50 per person, excluding tax and tip. Wine pairings are available.

The menu is offered at a special price on Thursday, and will be available a la carte throughout the weekend.

Join us for the first of in a series of events on the last Thursday of the month.  We begin on Thursday, January 31, with a wine dinner featuring James Kenna of Maverick WIne Company and the wines of the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy. Giuseppe has put together a delectable menu that highlights wines from these Alpine areas with roots in the ethnic traditions of Germany, Lombardy and Venice.  A local saying that reflects just how important wine is to this area is Pane e vino fanno un bel bambino or "bread and wine make a beautiful baby".  Join us for this wine dinner, baby, and you will be glad you did!

We're excited about our Late Fall Menu. 

We're using interesting ingredients that are from various parts of the Mediterranian basin, such as freekeh, which is a toasted green wheat from North Africa, and black lemon, which is a preserved lemon that gives an earthiness to food.  While these ingredients are not typical to Sicilian food, Sicily was colonized by people from these regions, and the ingredients they introduced - and that we use in our cooking - are well-complimented by these.

We've switched up our fritto misto to include local smelt.  We have a beautiful crudo with laughing bird shrimp, citrus and fennel, and a grilled octopus with preserved lemon and saffron aioli.

Our salads have changed with the seasons and include roasted beets with creamy advocado and a coriander vinaigrette, and a garden salad of mesclun that is simply paired with garlic chapons - which are toasted sourdough toast slathered with a decadent roasted garlic puree.

In the pasta department, we've added a soup made from farro and cicerchie, which are wild garbanzo beans from the north of Italy, topped with a black lemon salsa.  Our housemade pastas have produce that's in season, such as butternut squash, brussels sprouts and wild mushrooms, plus orange, as a hint of the season to come.

The main courses are in line with the season that is turning colder - flat iron steak with grana padana rosti, braised short ribs with lemon freekeh, preserved black lemon and a spanish influenced (another of Sicily's invaders) pistachio picada.

Ceres’ Table Chef Giuseppe Scurato teams with old friend, Gaetano DiBenedetto, of Gaetano's in Forest Park for “A Celebration of Sicily” 

Back in Sicily, as teenagers, Giuseppe Scurato and Gaetano DiBenedetto worked together in a local kitchen. They became fast friends but eventually parted ways for different restaurant experiences. Cut to 18 years later in Chicago. Giuseppe was working at Spago and decided to go out for some libations after work. Across the bar, he saw someone who looked familiar, but he could not place him. Convinced that he knew this person, he eventually walked over and after a few awkward moments realized that it was his long-lost Sicilian friend and colleague, Gaetano! The two hugged, took shots of tequila and the friendship resumed as if no time had passed. Together, these old friends are now presenting a special week-long menu at both of their restaurants, Ceres’ Table and Gaetano’s—“A Celebration of Sicily.”

From September 17 through September 22, both Ceres’ Table and Gaetano’s will offer a four-course Sicilian menu paired with wines for $50 per person (not including tax and gratuity).

The Ceres’ Table Sicilian menu will include:
Appetizers:
Arancine i riso e zafarano
(Fried rice ball with saffron and artichokes)

Cascavaddu all' Argintiera
(Pan fried caciocavallo, vinegar, Sicilian oregano)

Anchiova Marinate
(Marinated anchovies)

Panelle di Ciciri
(Garbanzo flour fritters)

Pasta course:
Timmallo di Anidduzza
(Baked ring pasta with meat sauce, mortadella, salami, cheese and eggplant)

Main course:
Involtini i Piscispada
(Swordfish rolls, with breadcrumbs, caciocavallo, lemon, oranges, pine nuts and currants, baked with onions and bay leaves)

Side:
Caponatina a Palermitana
(Eggplant Caponata)

Desserts (choice of one):
Cannoli i ricotta
(ricotta cheese cannoli)

Gelu di Muluni
(sicilian gelatin of watermelon, chocolate chips, pistachio, cinnamon)

The Gaetano’s Sicilian menu will include:
Antipasti
Airu e duci ri zucca
(Squash in sweet and sour with garlic and mint)

Alivi a carrittiera
(Gaetano’s home brined assorted olives marinated with celery, onions, oregano oil and vinegar)

Pisci spata affumicatu cull’aghia e acitu i casa
(Sword fish carpaccio marinated with oregano, parsley, E.V.O. Oil and housemade red vinegar)

Vastiedda ca’ ricuatta
(Traditional from Bagheria—moffoletto bread with ricotta cheese)

Primo
Attuppateddi cu sucu ri tunnu agghiuoatta
(Half rigatoni tossed with tuna sauteed with garlic, herbs, white wine, capers and black olives)

Secondi
Spitinu i caini a Paleimitana
(Veal stuffed with pine nuts, currants, onion marmalade, assorted cheeses and cold cuts, rolled, breaded and baked in the wood burning oven with onions and bay leafs)

Spigula o saimurigghiu
(Safe harbor certified Mediterranean Sea Bass or Dorade roasted in the wood burning oven and served with oil, lemon, oregano, garlic and parsley)

Dolci
Tronchettu i ricuotta
(Cannolo rolls)

Viscuuottu i miennula
(Almond cookies)

Zuppa igrisi
(Zuppa inglese Gelato)

But it doesn’t stop there. On September 19, Di Benedetto will appear as a guest chef at Ceres’ Table, lending some of his dishes in person. The following night, September 20, the chefs will turn the tables again when Giuseppe joins Gaetano in his kitchen at Gaetano's. This is as authentic as Sicilian cooking gets!

The restaurants’ regular menus will also be available all nights. For more information, please visit www.cerestable.com. To learn more about Gaetano's, visit gaetanosforestpark.com.

Giuseppe Scurato, whose grandfather owned a produce stand in Palermo, has been inspired by food since youth, so much so that he enrolled in the town’s Istituto Alberghiero for a five-year program in culinary arts and hotel management. After graduating and traveling extensively through Europe, Scurato came to America and began his career at Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio in San Francisco. He later helped open Spago in Chicago as its chef de cuisine. Needless to say, his roots in the city run deep. Scurato worked alongside Michael Kornick at mk before helping to open BOKA, Landmark Grill + Lounge and, finally, Topaz Café in Burr Ridge. All the while, Scurato built relationships with local producers. Now, with the help of his wife, Carolyn, Scurato applies his encyclopedic knowledge—and skills—at his welcoming Uptown restaurant.

Executive Chef Gaetano Di Benedetto is a native of coastal Bagheria, which is located just outside of Palermo. A graduate of the prominent IPAS professional culinary school in Italy, he has prepared state dinners for Italian Presidents Francesco Cossiga, and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. Di Benedetto worked in London, Paris and Milan before taking on a position at Disney’s Celebration City. Since 2002, he has developed a loyal following at lauded Gaetano’s and La Piazza. In 2011, the Italian government awarded Ch Di Benedetto with the “Ospitalita Italiana” award, making it one of 600 restaurants world-wide to have this authenticity-driven seal of approval. Gaetano’s is located at 7636 Madison St. in Forest Park. Call 708-.366.4010 for reservations.
 

Starting this Monday, 8/20, we'll be offering Family Meal for Families -  Mondays through Thursdays, from 5-6:30 pm.  

Family Meal for Families offers a quick, nutritious and yummy meal for parents or caregivers and their children.  A choice of pasta for the table (butter and cheese, marinara, marinara with meatballs), roast chicken, salad, and a scoop of ice cream for dessert, as well as milk, juice or pop for $20/pp. 

Guidelines: family or caregiver with at least one child eating dinner.

We have crayons and look forward to seeing you!