Arrivederci, A Mano: Marina City restaurant to close Saturday night

Photo by Steve Johnson

(Above) Photo by Steve Johnson of Amano dining area, published by Zagat Survey in September 2008.

March 4, 2010 – The challenge of filling nearly 10,000 square feet with customers every night caught up with Amano Italian Trattoria this week. Despite good reviews and by all accounts, good traffic, the Marina City restaurant will close on Saturday.

Owner Dan Sachs broke the news Thursday afternoon on the BIN 36 Facebook page. He blames the economy and calls their efforts “nothing short of ambitious.”

“I can’t help but think if the economy hadn’t fallen like it has, that if we’d opened the restaurant at the same time as we opened Bin Wine Cafe, things might’ve been different.”

Amano opened in October 2007 on North Dearborn Street in space below BIN 36, a restaurant Sachs has co-owned since 1999. He does not believe the location, partially hidden from traffic, hurt the restaurant.

“In the end, the space was just too big for the concept,” Sachs told Marina City Online. “When we signed the lease four years ago, 10,000 square feet seemed manageable.”

A 2007 review by Zagat Survey described 9,500 square feet of space as a blend of “old and new, with reclaimed and distressed wood, blackened steel, Carrara marble tabletops, a 30-foot granite bar and an elevated lounge.”

“In this day and age of foodie proliferation we often forget [that] a restaurant is a business,” wrote Sachs to his Facebook fans, “and in order to stay open, a business simply has to make money. Obviously, we weren’t able to meet that need.”

Served Italian treats and wine

Amano, named for an Italian phrase meaning “by hand,” had its own wood-burning pizza oven and called itself “a truly authentic urban Italian Trattoria.” It featured Italian-style foods such as salumi, a meat product, hand-made pasta, and antipasto, an appetizer. It had 150 selections of Italian wine, according to the 2007 Zagat Survey, 25 of which were served by the glass.

The restaurant received favorable comments by Bon Appetit, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Social, Chicago Sun Times, and Midwest Living.

On January 8, 2010, it was called “a hidden gem in downtown Chicago” in a segment taped last summer for WTTW’s Check, Please! Hosted by Alpana Singh, the show features reviews of Chicago restaurants by everyday people.

On January 16, 2009, a pipe that was part of a sprinkler system burst due to bitter cold weather, severely damaging wood floors at Amano and closing the restaurant for six weeks.

Although he will miss Amano “tremendously,” Sachs says he and his team have “really hunkered down and are moving full-steam ahead with our revitalized efforts at BIN 36.”

The normal hours of operation for Amano on Saturdays are 5:00 to 11:00 p.m.