The Purple Pig restaurant to open a new site in Oak Brook

The all-star cast of a popular Chicago restaurant is expanding its theme to the suburbs.

The Purple Pig, featuring Mediterranean cuisine with a tagline of “Cheese, Swine & Wine,” is slated to open later this year at 15 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, in the space formerly held by the Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams furniture showroom.

The original Purple Pig, 444 N. Michigan Ave., opened in 2009. The partnership team coming to Oak Brook is James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Mantuano and his wife, Cathy; and Marianna Bannos and her father, Thomas Shubalis.

“With the business still thriving more than 15 years later, the four of us longtime partners decided to expand into the Oak Brook market,” Bannos said.

“Really because it’s a premier shopping, dining, entertainment and lifestyle destination in the Western suburbs. In addition to that, my father and I (are) both longtime residents of the community. We live just a few doors away from each other, and we’re also near to the Oak Brook Mall.”

A “groundbreaking” ceremony with the partners and Oak Brook officials is slated for the week of July 7. At more than 11,000 square feet, the Oak Brook restaurant will be twice the size of the one at North Michigan Avenue, seating about 300 people and offering outdoor dining.

Executive chef Efrain Medrano, appointed in 2020 at the downtown location, will partner with Tony Mantuano to curate the menu, Bannos said.

Mantuano, a celebrity chef with television appearances on many shows including “The Martha Stewart Show” and “The Dish” on CBS, received vast acclaim for his decades at the Chicago Italian restaurant Spiaggia. Michelin-starred, Mantuano has earned 12 James Beard nominations and won Best Chef Midwest in 2005.

He also has written a pair of books with his wife, a wine expert.

A veteran of many restaurants, including one in his hometown Kenosha, Wisconsin, Tony Mantuano most recently served as food and bar partner at Yolan in Nashville, an Italian restaurant that in April 2023 was named best United States restaurant in a Food & Wine readers survey.

“He’s widely respected throughout the culinary world,” Bannos said.

As in The Purple Pig in Chicago, customers of the Oak Brook restaurant may expect an emphasis on unique, Mediterranean-inspired creations and seasonal ingredients — a Medrano specialty — seafood, cheeses, cured-in-house charcuterie, an extensive wine list, and homemade gelato and desserts.

What’s different is the larger Oak Brook space will offer a full-service restaurant and bar in the back of the room, and The Purple Pig Market in front, plus outdoor dining and options for catering and private dining.

The market will offer coffee, pastries, gelato, and pizza by the slice. It also will sell private label items such as olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, cutting boards and specialty liquors, Bannos said.

“This will really serve customers who are looking for a quick bite, or a ‘grab and go,’” she said. “If they want to sit and have a main dining experience they would sit in the restaurant.”

Bannos said the aim is for The Purple Pig in Oak Brook to open by late fall, before the holidays.

“Our goal is that we’re giving guests the feeling of being invited into our home,” Bannos said. “It’s a really exciting time for the restaurant. We’re really excited about bringing city dining to the suburbs.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250624/dining/the-purple-pig-restaurant-to-open-a-new-site-in-oak-brook/