ALL BOTTLED UP: Caffe Florian
The spot: Peach and turquoise walls, exposed brick, well-worn wood floors, high ceilings and strings of tiny white lights overhead define Caffe Florian, a cozy Hyde Park restaurant where a crowd of mostly students and neighborhood folks tucks into an extensive menu. The long list of lunch and dinner options includes salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, pizza and even entrees. Get your bearings with the cafe's signature Florian spinach pizza ($5.95-$18.75), which combines spinach, onions, feta cheese and garlic on your choice of a Chicago pan-style crust or a thin and crispy crust. Wraps, including the buffalo wrap, a spicy grilled chicken breast in a southwestern chili-flavored tortilla ($7.75), and the pesto wrap, chicken in a spinach-flavored tortilla ($7.75) are also popular.
The bottle: Caffe Florian's Italian fare is a perfect excuse to get familiar with wines from Italy's Chianti region, most made with the sangiovese grape. Head to nearby Binny's Express, where store associate Nkenge Mawusi recommends the affordable Chianti Lucigano 2005 ($9.99), which works well with red sauces-think pizza and pastas-or the Banfi 2003 Chianti Classico ($15.99), a good match for grilled meats, eggplants and portabella mushrooms. --Allison Knab is a Metromix special contributor.