It’s a little wild that we made it over 200 episodes without Chef Tony Mantuano on the podcast. The longtime chef and true legend behind Spiaggia and a partner in The Purple Pig, Tony has helped shape Chicago dining for more than four decades, mentoring an extraordinary generation of chefs along the way, including a handful of past Joiners guests. We talk about growing up in an Italian-American family in Kenosha, leaving music behind for the kitchen, the formative year Tony and his wife Cathy spent working throughout Italy before opening Spiaggia, and how that restaurant became both a Chicago institution and an incubator for talent. We also get into The Purple Pig’s new Oak Brook chapter, building a culture people want to stay in, the Calabrian restaurant Tony still has in him -- and so much more.
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