With 40-Foot Windows, This New Restaurant Offers Sweeping Downtown Views

Tre Dita’s 44-foot ceilings and 40-foot windows are sights to behold and though the restaurant only sits on the second floor of the St. Regis Chicago, the panoramic views are spectacular. There’s also a special corner table set aside to offer a premier perspective. Perhaps, in time, this will rival what LondonHouse’s cupola has become — a popular destination for wedding engagements for folks of a certain ilk.

The restaurant opened on Saturday. The dramatic vistas at 401 E. Wacker Drive aren’t overstated inside the $1 billion and 1,198-foot skyscraper with 101 stories. Even on an overcast day, high above Navy Pier, and a short walk to the Mag Mile down Upper Wacker Drive, the views are stunning. It’s also close to Millenium Park where Lollapalooza annually sets up shop. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises will do well to host performers at its restaurants, and Tre Dita is already attracting celebrities. They’ve already served cast members from The Bear and Chicago PD at a preview party. There’s a rear entrance and plenty of private space across two levels so celebrities can enjoy their meals in peace, or be seen if that’s what they want. Mayor Brandon Johnson has already visited, and so has former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Take a look at the spaces below.

The Bar

Bar Tre Dita has a separate entrance and opened in February. In some ways, it represented a soft opening for the restaurant with a truncated menu of Funke’s favorites. As time goes by, it will evolve into its own identity with a unique menu. The drinks are Italian-focused with grappa, amaru, and vermouth. There are 14 seats at the bar with room for 120 total in the space. Grab a seat and try one of 400 spirits stocked from across the globe.

The Restaurant

The quality of the food is important, but Funke reminds us that much of the Italian experience comes from the environment.

“It’s where you are and who you’re with and it’s what you’re eating,” he says. “If you’re sitting on the island of Capri, eating a caprese salad with the ocean breeze on your face, sipping a glass of white wine with the person you love.”

With that in mind, Lettuce worked with David Collins Studio to create an 8,600-square-foot space outfitted with gray Tuscan marbles, arched portals, dark-stained timber chequerboard flooring, walnut timber paneling, and wrought-iron light fixtures. There’s room for 130 inside the 3,200-square-foot dining room and a private room for 40 that sits above the main space. There are also five private rooms, each named after a horse that’s competed in the Palio di Siena, a race held biannually in Siena.

Evan Funke’s Pasta Lab

Chef Funke is a perfectionist and he believes that pasta needs the perfect environment to consistently create outstanding noodles. His pasta lab, a fixture at two of his other restaurants, is a glassed-off space where staff can ensure dough has the ideal humidity and temperature to produce quality noodles. Of course, customers can peer into the workspace and see the staff at work.

The Menu

Funke is a proud Angelino, having cooked for Hollywood royalty at Spago in Beverly Hills. Funke’s passion for LA is neck and neck with his love of Italian cooking, and at Tre Dita, they’re honing in on Tuscany with a mix of unique pasta and steaks. Funke says he wants to spotlight more than Tuscany’s famous regions, like Florence, Pisa, and Siena. There’s focus on Pontremoli, Pienza, and Chiusi.