Merlo on Maple brings to Chicago a style of Italian cooking that is civilized, elegant and incredibly authentic. I have had the good fortune to visit Bologna on a few occasions, experiencing firsthand the restaurants and foods that have given this gastronomic epicenter of Italy the epithet of Bologna la Grassa, or Bologna the Fat. The "fat" in this instance pertains to the abundance of food and wine here and, as one writer put it, "everything necessary to life."

Short of heading off to Bologna, you can experience Bologna la Grassa at Merlo on Maple, where the menu is peppered with the authentic dishes whose names ring true: involtini di melanzane, minestra di fagioli, tagliatelle, tortelloni, tortellini, taglioline and costolette. And that's just a small taste.

Sensibility and an understanding of what makes up la vera cucina d'Italia (the true cooking of Italy) prevail here. And while the food is the star of this show, there is also the manner and style in which it is addressed and served. Don't interpret that as stuffy or snobby. As it is in restaurants in Bologna, there is a lighthearted approach to dining at Merlo on Maple, the idea being, as Italian writer Alessandro Cerbellati put it, to enhance "the hearty appetite which characterizes our culinary ecstasies."

And ecstasy in dining can be found on every page of the menu. One night the ecstasy started with an appetizer made up of slightly warm snowballs of fresh buffalo mozzarella, each wrapped in a ribbon of speck (a type of smoked prosciutto) and flanked by spears of tender asparagus and lightly sauteed cherry tomatoes. Elegant and delicious.