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While Beard Award partiers wipe their eyes from a late night on Monday spent at Lena Brava, there’s news on Rick Bayless’ new neighbor on Randolph Street. Reps for esteemed Italian pizza maker Gabriele Bonci have applied for a liquor license for 161 N. Sangamon St., the northwest corner of Randolph and Sangamon. That’s where America’s first Bonci p...

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The smell of fresh pesto wafts from the kitchen as Emile Chalouhi and Camillo Villa huddle over the stainless steel kitchen island, weighing ingredients on a small scale and exchanging banter in Italian. It is early afternoon at The Polenta Bar in the West Loop. White chairs and tables sit empty as the restaurant undergoes renovations to make the e...

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When: June 8th at 6pm - Where: Italian Cultural Institute, 500 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450 - What: Renaissance Cuisine: Banquets and the Food of the Rich a lecture by Daniele Macuglia. Free and open to the public. RSVP at: https://renaissancecuisine2.eventbrite.com The second of two seminars by Daniele Macuglia that explore Renaissance cuisine. W...

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Vapiano, the Italian restaurant chain with a location in The Loop, is opening another Chicago restaurant. Ownership has leased space in the AC Hotel in River North, the same building where SafeHouse Chicago opened in March. Look for a two-floor, 9,188-square-foot restaurant to open this fall, according to REJournals.com. The location at 630 N. Rush...

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The first time I saw Joe Mantegna in the flesh he was in the flesh, naked as a newborn baby on stage at the Shubert Theatre in a 1969 production of "Hair." It was his first professional acting job in what is now nearly 50 years of steady and acclaimed work on stage, in films and on television. "I have been very lucky," he says on the phone from Cal...

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OPENING OF THE SOLO EXHIBITION “SUPERNOVA” by ENRICO MAGNANI. May 30th, at 6pm. Italian Cultural Institute - 500 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450 The exhibition will feature works of art created specifically for the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago by the artist. A reception will follow. The artist will be in attendance. The exhibition will be on...

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Italian food’s been done to death in Chicago, but Italian drinks are a different matter, says Rockit Ranch Productions partner and bartender Brandon Phillips. Rockit’s crew, including Kevin Hickey (The Duck Inn), are working hard at Otto Mezzo, 311 W. Chicago Ave., to ensure the new River North bar will open on April 26. It’s one of the season’s mo...

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When: May 24th at 6pm - Where: Italian Cultural Institute, 500 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450 - What: The 2nd Edition of this bestselling biograpy of one of the most important Italian intellectuals of the post–World War II erapresented by Author Barth David Schwartz Author Barth David Schwartz will present the 2nd edition of the bestselling biograph...

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A new Italian-inspired cocktail bar is coming to River North. Brandon Phillips, named “Bartender of the Year” by Chicago Tribune in 2016 announced the opening of a new Italian-inspired cocktail bar, named Otto Mezzo – set to open Wednesday, April 26 at 8:30 p.m. The cocktail bar will join Rockit Ranch Productions, the Chicago-based hospitality grou...

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An Evening with Alberto Moravia, a dramatic (and comedic) reading of 3 of Moravia's short stories. by Lawrence Garner. May 2nd at 6:30pm. Italian Cultural Institute. 500 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450. Chicago, IL. Free and open to the public. Lawrence Garner will give a dramatic (and comedic) reading of 3 of Moravia's short stories from his antholo...

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