In general, fine dining ticks Zucchero off, from the brigade system in the kitchen to the paltry portions of a tasting menu. Still, Zucchero says his father, Joe —— would have scolded his son, telling him to shut up and graciously take the medallion if the Beard Foundation came calling.
was supposedly outraged by the compliment. He left the table and quickly scribbled Mr. Beef’s address on a note: “That’s where you want to go for real Chicago food,” Trotter allegedly told the diner.Courtesy of Carl Bonovolanto Jr. That’s one way of looking at the history of Chicago’s beef stands. But even Mr. Beef is more than what it appears. Though the sign on the restaurant reads “since 1979,” Mr. Beef’s history stretches back to the ’60s. Joe Zucchero actually purchased the stand from Carl Bonovolanto and his brother-in-law, Tony Ozzauto. They opened the stand in 1963 using recipes from Ozzauto’s mother, Mary.
But not all beef is created equal. Some stores take shortcuts. Bonovolanto Jr. calls making Italian beef an art, something that can’t be easily imitated — say the way some chefs around the country are attempting to do after finding inspiration after watching a few episodes of“For me, I think it’s wonderful the interest it’s generated across the country,” says Bonovolanto Jr.’s cousin, Carlo Buonovolanto. He’s the chief executive officer at, a chain that specializes in Italian beef.
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