Chicago Lawyer Magazine presented its 2023 Person of the Year Award to Patrick A. Salvi II, the Chicago managing partner at the law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard. The honor is bestowed annually upon a newsmaker, trendsetter or legal leader, according to the publication’s managing editor, John McNally. Salvi’s efforts to finalize an overall settlement for the remaining Sterigenics cases and pass meaningful legislation for the plaintiff’s bar through the Illinois General Assembly were among the reasons he earned the award, according to McNally. “Salvi has touched the lives of individuals he’s encountered since entering the industry nearly two …

A new Italian restaurant in Oak Park is a labor of love for its Italian-born chef and owner. Ciro Parlato hails from Corbara, a town near the Amalfi Coast, and moved to the United States in 2012. He first settled in Miami Beach, Florida, without knowing a word of English. He started taking classes at an international school and fell in love with Oak Park through his English teacher and her son, who lived there. “I visited, and I loved Oak Park so much,” says Parlato, who moved to the Chicago suburb in 2016. He decided to open a restaurant …

Growing up in Detroit, Noah Zamler learned to make pasta beside his mother and grandmother. Now, Zamler is living out his childhood dream as co-owner and head chef of Terra e Mare (Land and Sea), an Italian restaurant that opened at 404 S. Wells St. in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, Block Club Chicago reported. Zamler partnered for the venture with Cristian Mendoza and Petros Papatheofanis. Terra e Mare features “the best of the land and sea,” according to the restaurant’s website, including fresh seafood dishes, house-made pasta and bread, and locally sourced ingredients. A beverage menu includes cocktails, Italian wines …

Amore Mio has opened in downtown Aurora. Roberto Avila, the owner and chef of the Italian restaurant and piano bar, learned about Italian food while living in Venice, Italy, more than a decade ago. He is also chef and owner of the Latin fusion restaurant Altiro, with locations in Aurora, Geneva and Wheaton. Amore Mio “pays homage to the essence of the great Italian-American restaurants of the mid-20th century in New York City,” according to the restaurant’s website. Its menu includes antipasti, salads, pasta, and meat and fish dishes. The latest planned addition is Roman-style square pizza made in an …

Giovanni Labbate, owner of Tievoli Pizza Bar in Palatine, triumphed in the “plant-forward” category of the 5th annual Real California Pizza Contest. The competition pitted 12 professional chefs against each other in a quest for the most innovative pizzas, Food Industry News reported. Labbate took home a $5,000 prize for his “Sunset in Sonoma” recipe, featuring a garlic-confit cream sauce, sharp California cheddar, purple potato slices, caramelized onions and mushrooms. Tievoli, at 44 W. Palatine Road, has a menu with 13 types of wood-fired pizza, along with salads, pasta, sandwiches and panzerotti. For more, click here.

The Sons and Daughters of Italy in America will host its second annual Carnevale di Venezia from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 at Empress Banquets in Addison. Dubbed “La Commedia dell’Arte,” this year’s celebration will feature antipasto and dessert buffets; a family-style spaghettata; live entertainment, including acrobats and costumed performers; dancing; and more. Tickets are $75 and sponsorships are available. Reservations are required by Jan. 27. (president.sadia@gmail.com)

It may come as a surprise to Italian Americans living in the northern half of the Chicago area, but the far southwest suburbs boast substantial communities of paesani as well. “Mokena’s population is the highest and Homer Glen has a large one as well,” reports longtime local elected official Steve Balich. “Joliet and Crest Hill have good-sized populations, too, and so does Lockport and a couple of the neighboring suburbs.” Balich and others formed the Will County Italian American Association last summer to rally their compatriots around each other and their culture. “We started the group to support our heritage …

Marcial Bereciartu, owner of the newly opened Strapoli Pizza in Chicago, grew up in Venezuela, where he was inspired by his parents’ belief that one can work, not just for money, but also to have fun with family, serve the community and make good pizza. That’s what Bereciartu intends to do with Strapoli Pizza, 545 W. Diversey Parkway, which serves Neapolitan-style pizzas based on his family’s recipes. The business’ name is a combination of strada (street) and Napoli. Bereciartu’s parents operated a pizzeria for a few decades in Merida, Venezuela, and their children pitched in by making dough, preparing pizza …

If you thought arancini only showcased the flavors of Italy, think again. Amici restaurant, which opened recently at 3933 N. Broadway in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, serves classic Italian arancini stuffed with meat sauce and prosciutto, plus a variety of other flavor profiles, including Mexican, African, Indian and Thai. The eatery’s tagline is “five different cuisines in the palm of your hand.” “A lot of people assume we’re an Italian place, but we’re not,” owner Alfio Sciacca told Block Club Chicago. “The idea came from Italy because the arancini are from Italy, but we stuff them with different cultures.” The menu …

Brittany and Tony Colatori, owners of Cucina Bella restaurant in Algonquin, have teamed up with Jose Moreno to open Bella’s Wood Fire Pizzeria, also in the northwest suburb. The Cary-Grove Area Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new pizzeria at 123 S. Main St. in Algonquin. The menu draws inspiration from Tony Colatori’s family roots in Sannicandro, in Italy’s Puglia region. “You can expect nothing but the finest in Italian cuisine,” Brittany Colatori said in a chamber news release. Moreno and Tony Colatori worked together in the restaurant industry for 20 years. For more, click here.