Penny Pollack

Cool Mo.Di
The bar at Osteria Via Stato (620 N. State St.; 312-642-8450) is going bye-bye this fall, and in its place will be the Roman-style Pizzeria Mo.Di, outfitted with a gas oven. “I didn’t want to do what everybody else was doing,” says Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises chairman Richard Melman. “We don’t have to use wood to make great pizza. You need temperature.” Mo.Di’s recipe is based on a pizza in Rome that his team fell in love with a few years back, which he describes as “traditional, crustier than Neapolitan, yet light. Some of the pizzas will sport tomato sauce, others even more traditional San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. It’s what I love in pizza...

Puck Outta Here
Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe (1701 Maple St., Evanston), the bustling spot next to Evanston’s Century Theatres, unexpectedly shuttered its doors on September 16th. Employees were called Sunday night and told the seven-year-old restaurant would not be opening Monday morning. The Puck organization, which is giving much of its leftover food to local charities, released a succinct public statement that read, in part: “Due to rising operating costs we are not able to afford the quality and price value our customers deserve.” Then it closed out with an emphatic, “Live, Love, Eat!” Just not in...