Il Bambino- Not just a Sandwich Place

By Jennifer Shanteau

Those of you who know me, know that my response to, “do you want to check out this cool place in the village?” is, “uh, yeah”. So when the opportunity to visit Il Bambino presented itself, I was excited.  Then I found out it was a sandwich place, and I was like, “meh”.  You see, I’m not much of a sandwich person, mostly because I’m not much of a bread person.  I know, I know, I’m weird.  Every time I say this, people look at me like I have three purple heads.  I’m one of those people who will open up a perfectly good sandwich and eat just the insides, and it’s not a no carb diet thing.  As I child, I even did this with the most popular of children’s sandwiches, the Oreo.  I opened them up, scraped out the sugary white goodness with my teeth, and much to my mother’s dismay, put them back into the package.  Yes, that’s me.

But, off to Il Bambino I went anyway.  I figured they may have a good appetizer or a salad I would like, something not involving bread.  Thank god I did, because I was so very, very wrong about their offerings.  Il Bambino is not just a sandwich place.  Yes, sandwiches are on the menu, paninis to be exact, but I wasn’t prepared for all the rest of the delicious goodness they have to offer….Tapas, Antipasti, Salads, Soups, Crostini, not to mention Beer and Wine.  No, I did not google the menu before I arrived, but I was pleasantly surprised when I finally did read it, and even happier when the food came out!

Typically, I don’t eat Potato Salad.  Let me rephrase that.  Typically, I don’t eat potato salad that has not been made by my mother.  Why?  Because frankly, hers is the best potato salad that I’ve ever tasted, and over the past few decades, I’ve only tasted one that I even remotely liked besides hers.  However, my boyfriend and dining companion for the evening wanted to try it, and  I admit, I was curious when I read the description, “Fingerling Potato Salad; Truffle Aioli, Fried Shallots and Pecorino”.  Sounds good, right?  Was it ever!  It was rich, creamy, cheesy and crunchy; a great combination of flavors and textures.  Just look at it!  You’ve never seen or tasted potato salad like this.

Unique and upscale mélanges of flavors and textures seemed to be the theme of the menu.  Everything we ate presented a new way of experiencing food combinations, which pleased my easily bored mouth to no end.  To maximize on the amount of different variations we could try in one evening, we ordered The Pu Pu Platter, any mix of six Crostini.

Wow.  This Crostini was not your average open faced sandwich consisting of a slice of bread and slapped with a topping or two.  These are heaping with high end decadence.  The Smoked Bacon, Goat Cheese and Lawless’ Mayo was my absolute favorite.  It’s very difficult to beat anything that stars bacon or cheese, let alone both.

I am also a big fan of the Egg Salad, Smoked Bacon and Lawless’ Spicy Mayo, mostly because it incorporated most of what my favorite crostini of the evening did, sub Egg Salad for Goat Cheese.

The Mortadella, Romesco, Fried Shallots, Manchego and Bearnaise Aioli was to me, a mystery on paper, but made perfect sense in my mouth.  The Mortadella was the star of the show, balancing well with the Manchego and utilizing the Fried Shallots for crunch.

The Rosemary Chicken Salad, Avocado Butter, Tomato Pesto, Smoked Bacon and Farmhouse Blue Cheese was amazing.  Every single ingredient was delicious.  It’s so much, you don’t think it’s going to work, but somehow it does.

The Tomato Fresca, Rosemary Ricotta and Black Olive Oil was definitely the lightest, healthiest crostini of the bunch, and was a good accompaniment to all of the others.  I’m definitely going to create my own version of this one to have for breakfast in the summer with a cup of tea.  It was light enough to eat regularly, but tasty enough to satisfy my need for something shedonistic.

Last, but not least was the genius combination of Chorizo, Apricot Butter and Goat Cheese….a classic combination of salty and sweet.  Yes, I’ve had chorizo, and I’ve had apricot jam, but did I ever think to put them together?  Nope.  Now I will!

Everything I ate at Il Bambino was scrumptious.  The location was great, the restaurant was spotless, and the service we received was on par with the fanciest of dining establishments.  There are so many items left to try on the menu, that I must return….and soon!

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