Joel Piedra spent most of his career at Sabatino’s, starting at the beloved Old Irving Park restaurant as a teenager and working his way up to become the chef for 30 years until it closed in 2018. Now, Piedra is striking out on his own. He is set to open his own restaurant, Avvio American Italian Kitchen, later this month in Irving Park alongside his stepson, Daniel Carrasco.

“It was extremely hard for Joel to move on after Sabatino’s closed because he’d been working there since he was 17,” said Lisset Rosales, Avvio’s social media manager and Carrasco’s wife. “He just wants to cook. That’s his passion, and he loves to make sure people are happy.”