RW - Maman Zari

My partner and I are new to Chicago, so we were so excited about our first RW here, and maman zari did not dissapoint!

our first course was an amuse bouche that wasn't on the menu--crispy chickpeas with an herb tuile and a butternut squash puree started out on an amazing foot. they love their butternut squash here and i was afraid it was going to be...normal? the way butternut squash always is? but the use of persian flavors like the herb oil and pomegranate molasses made it stand out. the herb tuile was so light and beautifully crispy.

My partner's standouts were her entree and dessert--she had the sturgeon, which was tender and delicious, and she still hasn't stopped talking about the brown butter saffron sauce underneath it. Her dessert was the ice cream, which I can only describe as intense. We would both go back for the ice cream alone.

My standouts were my appetizer and entree! I had the olive plate, and if we went again, we would definitely order two of these instead of the eggplant dip. the eggplant was a little over-charred for our tastes, but the little olive plate was for me the most flavor-packed bites I had all night. My entree was the bucatini lamb ragu, which they did tahdig style, and all I will say about that is that crispy bucatini should be something everyone is doing.

I wanted to also give a shoutout to the service--obviously at a fine dining restaurant you expect a certain level of service, but it's always nice when that level is both matched and exeeced. Our waters didn't drop below half-full all night, our server and bussers were all so knoweldgeable and polite, and we were a later reservation so we were able to chat with the owner on our way out. She's a lovely person, obviously very passionate about persian food. She also asked for our feedback about a few of the dishes and the format of the meal. We're so excited to come back for a full tasting menu soon!