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Deerfield restaurant serves up Italian passion, love
Garnishing with some olive oil, Ristorante Abruzzo manager Salvatore Abruzzo prepares homemade pumpkin ravioli stuffed with roasted pumpkin, mascarpone cheese, raisins, almonds, walnuts and amaretto sauce. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
Ristorante Abruzzo
Address: 483 Lake-Cook Road, Deerfield
Phone: (847) 205-0990
Website: www.abruzzodeerfield.com
Other locations: Antioch, Northbrook, Libertyville
Article Extras
Updated: November 8, 2012 2:44PM
DEERFIELD — For the last 30 years, Deerfield’s Ristorante Abruzzo has been committed to serving up authentic Italian food with passion and love.
“Passione e amore,” said restaurant manager Salvatore Abruzzo, describing the philosophy in Italian. “It’s the most important thing. Without passion we might as well go do something else.”
Abruzzo explained that the restaurant changes its menus with the seasons. Its chefs are getting ready to reveal the fall/winter menu, featuring “heartier” dishes like lamb shank and stuffed pastas.
The restaurant’s staff also helps redevelop some existing dishes to create new ones.
“We offer a product that is simple and good,” Abruzzo said.
“We also present our dishes with passion.”
Pumpkin ravioli also is one of the dishes guests can enjoy on the new menu, Abruzzo said. The dish is made from fresh, homemade ravioli with mascarpone cheese, walnuts and raisins.
Abruzzo said the restaurant strives to use as many local products as possible, like milk-fed veal from Wisconsin farms, pork from Colorado and free-range chicken, ensuring guests receive the highest quality food available.
“This makes us very proud of what we are serving to our dear friends, who come to see us everyday,” Abruzzo said.
Being an authentic Italian restaurant, Abruzzo said he also imports certain foods from Italy, such as cheeses and cold cuts for the antipasto dishes.
“We call it a rustic table,” Abruzzo explained. “Parma prosciutto, Tuscan salami with roasted vegetables, roasted zucchini and beautiful artichokes with the stems.”
Abruzzo credited owner Guido Oliverii’s work ethic for Ristorante Abruzzo’s three decades of success in Deerfield.
“We are family owned and started back in the mid-1970s,” Abruzzo said. “We moved to our current location about two and a half years ago and were in the Deerbrook Mall for more than 20 years.”
Abruzzo explained that the restaurant is named after an Italian region just northeast of Rome, where Oliverii was born. It’s just a coincidence that he shares a name with the restaurant.
The restaurant’s banquet rooms are named after other cities important to Oliverii.
“The Teramo Room is named for where he was born, and the Cervaro Room for where he lived,” Abruzzo said.
Those banquet rooms accommodate special, customized events for parties ranging from two to 250 people.
In addition to the passion for authenticity, Abruzzo also expressed love for the people of Deerfield.
“Deerfield is a big support for us, a big community,” Abruzzo said. “One big, big hug from all of us at Abruzzo to all the Deerfield and surrounding communities.”
