Osteria il Centro, the comfortable Italian bistro just south of the Country Club Plaza, leaves the more traditional Sicilian-American fare to its neighbor, Accurso's Italian Restaurant, just up the street. Greg Johnson's Osteria doesn't really offer that many pasta dishes, focusing instead on more unusual items. There is, for example, a rich seafood ravioli. And there's another seafood creation: sauteed scallops tossed with whole-wheat penne in a spicy puttanseca sauce.
But this combination of chicken, thick cream and crunchy walnuts may be the house specialty.
Osteria Il Centro isn't the first Italian restaurant in Kansas City to offer a variation on this dish, but it's become famous for it. With good reason: slices of plump grilled chicken on a bed of penne drenched in a silky, savory cream sauce delicately seasoned with potent gorgonzola. It's one of those dishes that, after three bites, leaves you almost full. And happily, it tastes just as wonderful the next day.
Our list so far:
No. 50: Chocolate Malt from Fox's Drug Store
No. 49: Il Parma from Bella Napoli
No. 48: Italian sausage and eggs from Cascone's Grill
No. 47: Orange Roll from Clock Tower Bakery
No. 46: Tacos de cochinita from Frida's Contemporary Mexican Cuisine
No. 45: Barbecued pork bun from 888 International Market
No. 44: Tableside fresh mozzarella from Jasper's
No. 43: Gyro Sandwich from Mr. Gyros Greek Food & Pastry
No. 42: Apple strudel from Grunauer
No. 41: Rice noodle bowl from dim sum at Bo Lings
No. 40: E-Crush from Hi-Hat Coffee
No. 39: Flight of Freshness from Fresher than Fresh Snow Cones
No. 38: Curried chicken salad from Cafe Provence
No. 37: Apple fritter from John's Space Age Donuts
No. 36: Pollo con limone e olive from Lidia's Kansas City
No. 35: Wedding-cake cookie from LattéLand
No. 34: Stroud's cinnamon rolls
No. 33: Smoked Polish from Werner's
No. 32: Burger and frites from Westport Cafe & Bar
No. 31: Paletas from Paleterias Tropicana
No. 30: Goat korma at New Cafe Tandoor
No. 29: Lemon cake from Café Europa
No. 28: Chocolate Mousse Torte from Napoleon Bakery
No. 27: Spring rolls from Vietnam Cafe
No. 26: French fries from LC's Bar-B-Q
No. 25: Classic Cookie's herbed-potato-and-sausage casserole
No 24: Farmer greens salad at The Farmhouse
No. 23: Egg salad sandwich from You Say Tomato
No. 22: Waldorf Salad from Bloomsbury Bistro
No. 21: Pork tenderloin sandwich from Kitty's Cafe
No. 20: Root beer from Mugs Up Drive In
No. 19: Flank steak sandwich from Happy Gillis
No. 18: Chicken Picatta from the Hereford House
No. 17: Mom's Macaroni and Cheese from McCoy's Public House
No. 16: Fried green tomato salad from Café Roux
No. 15: Veggie burger from Room 39
No. 14: Onion rings from Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue
