Top Chef Fabio Viviani To Open Chicago Restaurant

Earlier this year Top Chef Alum Fabio Viviani announced he would be opening a restaurant in Chicago. Working with Lucas Stoioff and David Rekhson, the guys behind Public House and Bull & Bear, it will be an Italian restaurant in River North. Viviani already has Los Angeles area restaurants but wanted to open one in Chicago stating, “It’s a great city. I’ve been a fan of Chicago before I was involved with any business. Chicago is getting to the point where New York was for restaurant business… it’s a great destination for fantastic food and food personalities.” (Eater Chicago) It also helps that he’s a fan of some of Chicago’s most famed and successful chefs, particularly Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard and Tony Mantuano.

While details were slim in the beginning, more and more information has been surfacing. We now know that the 10,000 square foot restaurant will be called Siena Tavern, and will feature a separate 600-square-foot pizza/crudo bar next to the main dining room. The pizza bar will have an open kitchen with a Wood Stone Oven that can cook up to 16 pizzas under five minutes at the same time.

The project is said to have a rustic-meets-modern-industrial feel. The trio even traveled to Italy for inspiration and to research dishes to put on the Siena Tavern’s menu. They have recruited Femme du Coupe’s Revae Schneider to create the cocktail list. Anticipation and excitement for the restaurant is high, but unfortunately the restaurant may not open until February of next year.