<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3fBBVq_0vi83Dry00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3fBBVq_0vi83Dry00" width="1210" height="806" ><figcaption>Joe Flamm’s new restaurant will focus on Rome.</figcaption></figure>Joe Flamm is continuing his exploration of Italy by opening il Carciofo, which will serve Roman-style pizzas and hand-rolled pastas made in a pasta lab.“I’ve been in love with Rome since my first visit there when I was 25,” Flamm says. “It’s crowded, it’s loud and it just reminds you of being in a big city like Chicago where you have such a breadth of food.”Expected to open in early December at 1045 W. Fulton Street, il Carciofo will join Flamm’s BLVD Steakhouse and Italian and Croatian restaurant Rose Mary in Fulton Market as part of Day Off Group, which Flamm runs with Frank and Kara Callero, and Steve Zaleski. While Rose Mary channels a visit to the Adriatic Coast, il Carciofo will celebrate Rome’s patio culture starting next spring, with retractable windows opening onto a 40-seat space decked out with canopies, string lights, and flowers.“It’s meant to be like the piazzas in Rome where you hang out and watch the city happen — not an escape from the city but a vantage point to check it out,” Flamm says.Italian cooking has long been a focus for the Top Chef champion who got his big break while working with chef Tony Mantuano at Spiaggia — one of the most decorated Italian restaurants in Chicago. Flamm and his chefs traveled to Rome in April, going to markets every day along with restaurants, wine bars, and cafes to experience its culture. He’ll be importing cheese, oil, and vinegar, but also embrace the Italian sensibilities of using the best local ingredients with seasonal produce from Nichols, Mick Klug, and Froggy Meadow farms, charcuterie from Tempesta Market, and pork products from Slagel Family Farm.The menu will feature Roman-style pizza, the oblong-shaped pies places like Bonci popularized in Chicago. There will also be traditional antipasti like prosciutto di parma, and classic dishes like carbonara using noodles made in a pasta lab that will double as a private event space with room for 18. This is the second pasta lab in Chicago. LA celeb chef Evan Funke made the lab his signature and brought the room with him when he opened Tre Dita earlier this year with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. “My team does an incredible job, but we’re just making pasta out of a basement,” Flamm says. “Having a dedicated space that’s temperature controlled is such a luxury. It really gives you just a lot more control and consistency over the product.”Oak Park’s Aria Group designed BLVD and will be decking il Carciofo out with dark wood, handmade tile, natural stone, and plush fabrics meant to evoke the feel of a Roman trattoria. The 7,000-square-foot space will have an open kitchen with an eight-seat chef’s counter similar to the setup at Rose Mary offering a front-row seat of the action.“People are so curious and so much more informed about kitchens now,” Flamm says. “I’ve always loved open kitchens since I worked at Table Fifty-Two. There’s such an energy to a busy kitchen, so much movement and noise, and I love when that flows into the service and gives such a great feel to the restaurant.”The beverage program will center on an all-Italian wine list complemented by cocktails meant to bring Italy’s aperitivo culture to Fulton Market.“The idea is you can hang out at the bar or sit on the patio before dinner, whether it’s at il Carciofo or somewhere else, or before you head home,” Flamm says. “I always loved that part of being in Rome. It’s 4:30 or 5, you need to go sit on a patio and not do anything but have a spritz and maybe eat some olives and potato chips.”While Flamm is still figuring out who will lead the dessert program, the goal is to serve gelato and Roman pastries including maritozzi (brioche buns sweetened with honey and dried fruit) and zabaglione (egg custard made with wine).“I think the word authentic gets overused these days, but my goal for the restaurant is to try to give Roman food its due so that people who’ve been there can get a taste of that here and people who haven’t, maybe it excites them and they want to check it out,” Flamm says.Il Carciofo, 1045 W. Fulton Street, planned for an early December opening.</div></body>

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Joe Flamm’s New Fulton Market Restaurant Will Be an Ode to Rome

Joe Flamm is continuing his exploration of Italy by opening il Carciofo, which will serve Roman-style pizzas and hand-rolled pastas made in a pasta lab. “I’ve been in love with Rome since my first visit there when I was 25,” Flamm says. “It’s crowded, it’s loud and it just reminds you of being in a big city like Chicago where you have such a breadth of food.”

Joe Flamm’s New Fulton Market Restaurant Will Be an Ode to Rome

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