Dining out: Hello Spring menu blossoms at Seasons 52

Tour of Italy

Che Figata's interactive Shared Table dinner series returns at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, featuring tastings from Italy's Piemonte region. Limited to only 16 guests per seating, the culinary team will discuss the origins of the dishes during the six-course dinner, which costs $75. The courses include cheese (robiola) grassini wrapped in san Danielle prosciutto, bagna cauda with pickled vegetables and carpaccio, tarjin pasta with porcini ragu, bollito misto with turnips and bitter greens, veal tonnoto with capers and burnt lemon, and spring fruit panna cotta for dessert. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com/. A second seating may be added at 7:45 p.m. Che Figata is at 2155 CityGate Lane, Suite 103, Naperville, (630) 579-3210 or chefigatakitchen.com/specials-events.

Hello Spring

With the start of spring comes seasonal flavors from Seasons 52 in the form of a new three-course fixed-price menu. Highlighting asparagus, lemon, parsley and more, the new Hello Spring menu, which includes a choice of a soup or salad, an entree and a Mini Indulgence dessert, is $29.95. Start off with options such as black bean and bacon soup; split pea and kale soup; spinach and strawberry salad; or a romaine and kale Caesar salad. Available now through May 26, the entrees feature chicken ravioli with pesto ricotta, roasted asparagus and lemon vinaigrette; wood-grilled sea scallops with roasted asparagus and lemon grass wild rice pilaf; brick-oven roasted Cornish hen with roasted garlic broccolini, parsley potatoes and a shallot-herb jus; and wood-grilled bistro steak with roasted asparagus, parsley potatoes and a red-wine sauce. A Mini Indulgence like the Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake rounds out the meal. Seasons 52 is at 3 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, (630) 571-4752, and 1770 E. Higgins Road, Schaumburg, (847) 517-5252, or seasons52.com/home.

Rookies' Madness

As March Madness continues, so do Rookies' specials during the games. Domestic mini pitchers are $5, import and craft mini pitchers are $8 and wings are 75 cents each. If you're going meatless on Fridays, there's an all-you-can-eat fish fry for $11.99, fish and chips for $10.99 and fish tacos for $9.99. Rookies is at 2486 Bushwood Drive, Elgin, (847) 551-9006; 4607 W Higgins Road, Hoffman Estates, (847) 645-0005; 12220 Princeton Drive, Huntley, (847) 669-8600; 1360 Lake St., Roselle, (847) 278-1666; and 1545 W. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 513-0681. rookiespub.com/.

Fishy Fridays

Have a hankering for fish? Or maybe going meatless on Fridays? There's still time to take advantage of Hofbrauhaus Chicago's Fish Fry Fridays during Lent. Now through April 19, Friday seafood specials include a $5 half-liter with the purchase of a fish fry meal; salmon burger served on a pretzel bun; oven-baked flounder with ratatouille and rice; German rollmops (pickled herring filets with German potatoes and yogurt sauce); trout “Miller style” with parsley potatoes; seafood stuffed filets (white fish stuffed with crab); and salmon meatball with Dijon lemon sauce and wild rice. Also, Hofbrauhaus will be celebrating the release of a new brew called Royal Export with a small keg-tapping ceremony and free samples at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, hosted by brewmaster Rob Hunter. Hofbrauhaus Chicago is at 5500 Park Place, Rosemont, (847) 671-2739 or hofbrauhauschicago.com/.

Bourbon and Bonfires returns

As the weather starts to warm, Three Embers at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort is relighting its patio firepits again for Bourbon and Bonfires. The next event, which runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, features flights from Jack Daniel's and Old Forester and small plates for $45 per person. The pairings include heirloom beet salad with Old Forester Statesman, burrata and apple chutney with Jack Daniel's No. 27, sea scallops and Parmesan risotto with Jack Single Barrel, and Colorado rack of lamb, polenta and gremolata with Old Forester Rye. Buy tickets at eventbrite.com/; seating is limited. Three Embers is at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0100 or threeembersrestaurant.com/.

Go giant

Save room for Olive Garden's New! Giant Italian Classics. And when we say save room, we're not kidding. The New! Giant Meatball with Spaghetti weighs in at 12 ounces and the New! Giant Chicken parmigiana is about 11½ inches long. Available Monday, April 1, through May 27, the other oversized options include New! Giant Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells topped with homemade marinara, Alfredo and toasted bread crumbs and New! Giant Stuffed Shells with Shrimp under homemade Alfredo sauce and seasoned tomatoes. The dishes, which include breadsticks and soup or salad, start at $12.99. Olive Garden has locations throughout the suburbs. olivegarden.com/.

Pop, pop

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack - with a twist at City Works and Old Town Pour House. With the opening of baseball season, the restaurants are popping up a specialty popcorn in duck fat and then adding pork belly, crunchy peanuts, a drizzle of caramel and sea salt. It's available now through Monday, April 1. City Works is at 1850 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg, (847) 584-2500 or cityworksrestaurant.com/schaumburg/. Old Town Pour House is at 8 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, (630) 601-1440, and 1703 Freedom Drive, Naperville, (630) 448-6020 or oldtownpourhouse.com/.

Email clinden@dailyherald.com with suburban dining and night life events.