With the Bristol firmly established in Bucktown and Balena nicely rooted in Lincoln Park, Chris Pandel, John Ross, and Phillip Walters (B. Hospitality Co.) got the bug to go west. West Loop, that is. And red-sauce retro. “Maybe lasagna, veal parmigiana,” says Pandel. Or maybe that old chestnut, lobster fra diavolo—lobster in spicy tomato sauce with linguine—“by a spirited young chef with a lot of technique.”

That would be Tony Quartaro, one of the group’s veteran sous chefs (three years), who earned his cooking chops at A16 in San Francisco and Fedora in New York City. His rendition of the oldie steeps lobster tail and claw meat in a complex white wine sauce and arranges it with spaghettini in the cleaned-out shell.

Very 1950s, don’t you think? 925 W. Randolph St.