- Thanks to you guys, the
secret is finally out!
You sent us to Lake Forest
to a hidden Italian gem.
We're at R & V Italian Market
& Deli, where clearly,
I'm gonna have to brush
up on my hand gestures.
Things like this, mamma mia!
- [Customer] Thank you.
- Frank, I love that
you come almost down
at a like an industrial area,
there's a bunch of
businesses around here.
And it's like you're transported
to a completely different place,
like a little corner of Italy.
- It's all based on the
Italian heritage that we have.
We carry 100% imported
products from Italy,
we incorporate the Visconti
Foods with the deli.
- [Elliott] Let's talk
about your Italian market.
- It all started when my
employees were disappearing
for like an hour and
a half for lunch and--
- Hang on a second,
how long did your employees
get for lunch, first of all?
- One hour lunch.
- Okay so why an
hour and a half?
- Well, there's nothing
really close here.
- [Elliott] So it's
born out of necessity,
and then it's turned into the
Italian stallion that it is.
- This is my go-to
place for lunch,
and I think this place
is flippin' awesome.
- That rolled off the
top of her tongue.
- You recognize this
face, a living legend.
Bob Wallace.
- This is a hidden gem here
in the industrial Lake Forest.
And now it's gonna
be full of people,
now that you're putting
it on television.
- This is Kevin, he didn't
tell us about this place,
once, twice, or even
thrice, multiple times.
- They have just so many
different offerings,
it's hard to just pick one.
- The way they have this
laid out with the tables
and even the shelving,
it's intimate,
but you have so
many choices here.
- The food is terrific,
the sandwiches
are what I remember as a kid,
you know the neighborhood
sandwich shop.
The Italian with
the Genoa salami and stuff
and everything is made
fresh and it tastes good.
And the prices are good!
- I usually come for
the meatball sub,
the chicken parm is good.
- We do close to about 300
pounds a week of chicken parm.
- That is like
love at first bite.
- [Crowd] Aww.
- Something else you do
which your mom used to make
when you were a kid.
- The eggplant rollatini.
My mom, my dad used
to make the best.
- Should we go do this thing?
- Let's do it!
(upbeat music)
- This is our
chicken parm station.
- We need to prepare the bread
crumbs, some Parmesan cheese,
some dried parsley,
a little salt.
Oh that's too much, that's good.
- That's too much?
- That's good.
- I'll throw it at Cam.
- Throw it over,
no, you need to throw it
over your left shoulder.
- Okay.
- It's for good luck.
Black pepper, so finally,
we're mixing the bread crumbs.
- [Elliott] Just use
the hands, right?
- There you go, go right ahead!
There you go.
- Yeah.
- You're a pro, one-handed!
- Dude, I love cracking eggs.
- [Frank] There you go.
And then what you wanna do.
- We wanna get out
the egg shells.
- No we don't want
that in there.
We don't want crunchy
chicken Parmesan.
- It adds character.
- Okay, all right, I'll
give you that okay.
Add some milk.
- Whisk it up?
- Whisk it up.
- [Elliott] Grab a
chicken, flour on first.
- There you go, shake
it up a little bit,
now you pull it out.
Egg wash, finally
the bread crumbs.
- Dressing this
chicken for success.
- Exactly.
- This chicken, went to a other
Italian deli the other day,
didn't get the same
treatment, big mistake.
- Yeah.
- Huge.
- Yeah.
- Big mistake, big, huge,
I have to go shopping now.
- So our chicken parm is
ready for frying action,
- [Frank] We just dip it in the
oil, fry it up a little bit,
get it nice and crunchy.
- There is nothing like
the sizzle of food frying.
- [Frank] We throw it in
the oven with the sauce
and the mozzarella cheese
- Should we leave that for
someone else to take care of
so you and I can go and
make some rollatini?
- Yes.
- The thing I like about doing
the rollatini now with you,
I can remember what we
did with the chicken parm.
- Very similar.
- Which is good for
someone like me.
- [Frank] Fresh eggplant.
- [Elliott] Into the flour?
- Into the flour, into the
egg wash, bread crumbs.
- [Elliott] Should we go fry it?
- Let's do it.
- Here's our quickly
fried, now cooled eggplant.
- This is a Chicago
style, ricotta cheese,
just put it right
here in the middle.
When you roll it, you
tuck it in and roll.
There you go, our
eggplant rollatini.
- [Elliott] Last one.
- That one you might wanna put
a little more ricotta in it.
- That's a sticker on
the back of my car.
Put some more ricotta in it.
What's in this pan?
- That's marinara sauce.
There you go, put a little
bechamel sauce on top.
- [Elliott] Baptize
these bad boys.
- Take some of our
sliced mozzarella,
we just put it right on top.
Put them in the oven for eight
minutes, and there you go,
eggplant rollatini.
(upbeat music)
- Well I'm glad we finally
get to sit down together
and feast on these delights.
- You gotta start with
chicken, there you go.
- And we're sharing of course!
Like young lovers.
- As long as you don't
feed me, we're all right.
You taste the fresh marinara,
the sauce, the chicken.
- The frying portion, keeps
all all those flavors in.
- Exactly.
- But the thinnest
of the chicken,
doesn't allow it to dry out
because it doesn't
cook for long enough.
- Exactly.
- If you enjoy
your chicken parm,
that's a great chicken parm.
Let's go roll it up.
- [Frank] Let's go.
- You fry anything,
you make me happy.
You add a bunch of
different cheeses to that,
you got me all weak,
weak at the knees,
and I'll stay here all week too.
- You know, when you're
making Italian food,
there's no shortcuts,
it's just all natural.
- I was going to ask you
why you're Chicago's Best,
but you just answered it.
All I need to do is eat some
more of my special nana's food.
- Me too, so save me some.
- This is Bob Wallace,
for Chicago's Best,
with Chicago's new best.
- With an original best.
