Food

Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets recently opened its eye-catching 10th location, in Norridge. The chain’s namesake founder and his wife opened their original store in 1958 in Elmwood Park. Over the decades, the business expanded to Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Orland Park and South Elgin. The building at 4410 N. Harlem Ave. has a wavy shape designed by architect Peter Theodore, whose inspiration was the landscape of Mola Di Bari, Angelo Caputo’s hometown, the Chicago Tribune reported. “We have spent a lot of time in Norridge, and we know it’s a great town with people who …

A new restaurant in Elk Grove Village was born out of a galvanizing family trip to Sicily. Cefalù Seaside Sicilian owner Tom Cirrincione and his wife took their three adult children — Jodi Curry, Ben Cirrincione and Carolina Eimerman — to visit Altavilla Milicia, Trapani, Palermo, Taormina and Cefalù last year. “They were so inspired by Sicily and the great food,” Cirrincione said. “That’s how they came up with this new concept.” The restaurant with bar and patio seating meets the community’s need for a unique and more upscale eatery, says Curry, who runs the establishment with her siblings. The …

Italian-born chef Fabio Viviani and his business partners have launched Jars, a gourmet dessert franchise whose first location opened earlier this year in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. Presented in glass jars, the desserts feature rotating flavors such as tres leches, tiramisù, red velvet cheesecake, apple pie, banana cream pie, churros, rocky road, blueberry cheesecake, strawberry sorbet and many more. “We team up with the biggest and best names out there in the baking industry, and they provide all the components in our desserts,” Viviani told QSRweb. By August, Jars had sold more than 100 franchise units nationally and internationally. Locations …

RPM Italian in Chicago’s River North neighborhood was ranked the best Italian restaurant in Illinois by the finance website 24/7 Wall St. The restaurant at 54 W. Illinois St. describes itself as “modern in approach and Italian in spirit, featuring a contemporary menu with dishes meant to be shared.” The website rates the best Italian restaurant in every state based on data from food rankings in Eater, Yelp, The Daily Meal, Fodors and Gayot and other sources, as reported by NBC5 Chicago For more, click here.    

An iconic Italian restaurant that attracted a faithful following over nearly four decades is no more. Ristorante Agostino owners Agostino Fiasche and his wife, Anna Longobardi Fiasche, announced the “bittersweet ending” of their “second home away from home” with a Facebook post on Aug. 1, marking the closure of their restaurant at 2817 N. Harlem Ave. in Chicago. “When we migrated from Italy to start a new life in America, little did we know we would own a successful restaurant together with our family, cook for thousands of people, and meet so many wonderful clientele and staff we would call …

Two veteran chefs have opened Tutore, an Italian cooking school at 2755 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago, in the space that used to hold the Italian restaurant Pisolino. Pisolino Chef James De Marte partnered with his mentor, Dean Zanella, former executive chef at Chicago Cut Steakhouse, for the joint venture. Zanella met De Marte in the early ’90s when he hired him as his sous chef at Grappa, a now-closed Italian restaurant in Streeterville, Eater Chicago reported. The two bonded over their Italian heritage, passion for cooking big meals and how they tweaked their grandmothers’ recipes to make the dishes …

Executive Chef Marco Di Benedetto owned Joe and Joe’s pizzeria on the Northwest Side and then spent 23 years at Gibsons Restaurant Group before his latest gig at The Bellevue, a restaurant and lounge that opened in May at 1031 N. Rush St. in Chicago. Di Benedetto told WGN Radio 720 that for him The Bellevue is “a way to spread your wings and look at ingredients and how you can bring great things to make exciting foods.” When he goes to Italy, Di Benedetto said he travels with a suitcase inside of another suitcase, which he fills with cheese …

After growing up eating Italian beef sandwiches in McHenry, James Beard Award-winning Chef Jonathon Sawyer gave the Chicago staple “a massive upgrade” at Kindling at 202 S. Franklin St. in downtown Chicago. Sawyer told NBC 5 Chicago that he uses 8 ounces of Wagyu beef lightly poached in broth. He coats the bun with raclette cheese and adds local giardiniera from J.P. Graziani. “Spicy, beefy, cheesy … all the things we’re looking for,” the chef decanted. “To traditions, living on in a different form.” The Italian beef sandwich was born in the early 1900s in the Italian immigrant community in …

Portillo’s restaurant chain, headquartered in suburban Oak Brook, and Quartino restaurant, in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, have opened locations in The Colony in suburban Dallas. Portillo’s “was the biggest restaurant opening in early 2023 in North Texas,” with hourlong wait times initially, The Dallas Morning News reported. That was followed by Quartino’s July opening in a 15,000-square-foot, two-floor restaurant with dining rooms, bars and kitchens. Quartino Founder and Executive Chef John Coletta, a native of New York City, designed a menu that includes a salumeria case, homemade pasta, Neapolitan-style pizza and wines from all over Italy. The original Quartino opened …

The Chicago Food Stop celebrated National Italian Beef Day on May 26.  Operating out of a kiosk at 875 N. Michigan Ave., the pop-up promotes Chicago food producers, showcasing a new company each day and hosting special events. As National Italian Beef Day dawned, a line spread across Hancock Plaza and onto Michigan Avenue as staff from the Food Stop and Tri-Star Vending geared up to dish out hundreds of sandwiches made to order with options such as hot and mild peppers, giardiniera, and dipped or dry. Participants who bought products from the Food Stop were treated to a free …