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northbrooktower.com life & Arts<br />
the northbrook tower | January 17, 2019 | 23<br />
Highland Park’s Viaggio ‘all about family and good food’<br />
Martin Carlino, Editor<br />
Like most who experience<br />
success in the restaurant<br />
industry, Lori and<br />
Larry Slavin consider<br />
themselves lucky.<br />
The husband-and-wife<br />
duo almost feels as if everything<br />
in their lives has<br />
fallen right into place.<br />
Lori and Larry’s first<br />
success story originates<br />
nearly seven years ago with<br />
the purchase of Viaggio, a<br />
popular Italian restaurant in<br />
Chicago’s West Loop.<br />
After years of prosperity<br />
in the city, the pair decided<br />
opening a second suburban<br />
location would be its next<br />
journey.<br />
The couple officially<br />
opened Viaggio in Highland<br />
Park on May 1 at 581<br />
Roger Williams Ave., the<br />
space that formerly housed<br />
Merlo’s, which closed in<br />
February 2018 after six<br />
years in the city.<br />
“We wanted this area<br />
because we live so close<br />
by, so that made it very<br />
attractive,” Lori said.<br />
“We’re familiar with the<br />
North Shore … it’s kind of<br />
a comfort zone in a way.”<br />
To help ease the transition,<br />
the Slavins brought<br />
over the same familyfirst,<br />
down-home feel of<br />
the original location, and<br />
a familiar menu featuring<br />
Viaggio’s signature oldschool<br />
Italian classics.<br />
The menus at the two<br />
locations are nearly identical,<br />
but each spot has its<br />
subtleties. The Slavins said<br />
that a couple of the salad<br />
options in Highland Park<br />
are different, as well as one<br />
or two varying choices for<br />
side dishes. The daily and<br />
weekly specials are different,<br />
and are determined by<br />
the restaurant’s executive<br />
chef.<br />
Don Gagliano, executive<br />
chef at the Highland Park<br />
Viaggio, spent two months<br />
training at the Chicago<br />
location prior to opening.<br />
Larry and Lori attributed<br />
the smooth opening to the<br />
dedicated preparation of<br />
Gagliano, manager Todd<br />
Cohen and the restaurant’s<br />
entire staff.<br />
“We’ve gotten so lucky<br />
with both restaurants,”<br />
Lori said. “We’ve got such<br />
an incredible staff at both<br />
places. At each location,<br />
the staff is like a family.<br />
We’ve have two unbelievably<br />
strong managers at<br />
both places.”<br />
And although each location<br />
has its own intricacies,<br />
the Slavins’ philosophical<br />
belief is ingrained in each<br />
— and in Highland Park<br />
it hangs on the right-hand<br />
wall as a daily reminder of<br />
what Viaggio is all about.<br />
“The plaque on the wall<br />
says what we’re all about:<br />
‘Viaggio is all about family<br />
and good food,’” Lori said.<br />
The Slavins said the<br />
Highland Park community<br />
greeted them with a warm<br />
reception and a feeling of<br />
excitement for the new<br />
restaurant.<br />
Now less than a year after<br />
the opening of the sister<br />
location, Lori and Larry<br />
are reminded of their good<br />
fortunate nearly every<br />
night as the loyal regulars<br />
stroll into Viaggio.<br />
“Highland Park and this<br />
area have been very receptive<br />
to us,” Lori said. “The<br />
people are friendly; we’ve<br />
already gotten our groups<br />
of regulars, that’s really<br />
been nice. Every night,<br />
there’s always a group of<br />
regulars from the area that<br />
just walk by and come in.”<br />
As a way to thank<br />
their loyal customers, the<br />
Slavins rolled out some<br />
new specials at the start of<br />
2019.<br />
Viaggio now offers a<br />
new happy hour that runs<br />
Viaggio<br />
581 Rogers Ave., Highland<br />
Park<br />
(847) 926-3441<br />
EatatViaggio.com<br />
4-10 p.m. Monday-<br />
Thursday<br />
4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday<br />
4-9 p.m. Sunday<br />
Viaggio’s meatball salad ($16) pairs two large meatballs, cooked in the restaurant’s<br />
signature red sauce, with a romaine salad topped with tomato, onion, cucumber and<br />
a red-wine vinaigrette. Photos by Jason Addy/22nd Century Media<br />
FEATURING:<br />
from 4-6 p.m. Monday-<br />
Friday and an early-bird<br />
special during those same<br />
hours. On Wednesdays,<br />
guests can enjoy a “winedown<br />
Wednesday,” where<br />
bottles of wine are half-off<br />
and on Sundays, kids eat<br />
for free.<br />
“We want to really not<br />
only do things that are<br />
good for us, but things that<br />
are good for the neighborhood,”<br />
Lori said.<br />
Editors from 22nd Century<br />
Media headed to<br />
Highland Park last week<br />
to taste some of Viaggio’s<br />
classics.<br />
Viaggio’s meatball salad<br />
($16), a fan-favorite dish<br />
that originated at the Chicago<br />
location, was the first<br />
offering we got a taste of.<br />
The appetizer offering<br />
is served with two large<br />
meatballs in Viaggio’s signature<br />
red sauce on one<br />
side of the plate, and romaine<br />
salad topped with<br />
tomato, onion, cucumber<br />
and a red-wine vinaigrette<br />
on the other half.<br />
The Slavins said the dish<br />
is one of Viaggio’s specialties.<br />
And this Italian-<br />
American writer recommends<br />
the offering for a<br />
unique start to your meal.<br />
We next tasted Viaggio’s<br />
rigatoni vodka ($18),<br />
a staple pasta dish for<br />
most Italian eateries. Viaggio<br />
homemade vodka<br />
sauce paired nicely with<br />
the well-prepared rigatoni<br />
and is sure to please pastalovers.<br />
For an added touch<br />
to the dish, Viaggio adds a<br />
touch of ricotta cheese to<br />
the top.<br />
We finished our visit<br />
with a taste of the restaurant’s<br />
brick chicken ($29).<br />
Our editors highly recommend<br />
bringing your appetite<br />
if you order this dish.<br />
The tasteful offering of<br />
boneless whole chicken,<br />
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MORE INFO: (847) 272-4565<br />
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prepared with olive oil,<br />
lemon, garlic, white wine,<br />
Italian seasoning, and<br />
served with roasted potatoes<br />
and broccolini, will<br />
certainly fill you up.<br />
Saturday<br />
Feb. 23, 2019<br />
10am - 2pm<br />
V E N D O R S W A N T E D<br />
Northbrook Court<br />
1515 Lake Cook Rd<br />
Northbrook<br />
DEADLINE:<br />
FEB. 6, 2019