202 Italian Bistro, Lincoln Park

Bricks can do more than prevent a curmudgeonly wolf from blowing down your building—they can comprise an oven that makes that building swell with the scent of ambrosial paninis. At 202 Italian Bistro, a wood-burning brick oven churns out the best of Northern Italian cooking techniques and recipes, from tilapia in coconut to veal doused in a marsala wine sauce. In addition to pizza crusts sprinkled with grilled chicken and tomatoes dried by a sun—no telling which sun—the dining room’s soft lighting illuminates pork chops delivered to guests at linen-topped tables.