Food Mondays: Can Roman-Style Pizza Make It In Chicago?

Reporter Monica Eng (right) and Curious City editor Alexandra Salomon (left) visited with Italian chef Gabriele Bonci, who has two pizza restaurants in Chicago.
Reporter Monica Eng (right) and Curious City editor Alexandra Salomon (left) visited with Italian chef Gabriele Bonci, who has two pizza restaurants in Chicago. Courtesy / Monica Eng
Reporter Monica Eng (right) and Curious City editor Alexandra Salomon (left) visited with Italian chef Gabriele Bonci, who has two pizza restaurants in Chicago.
Reporter Monica Eng (right) and Curious City editor Alexandra Salomon (left) visited with Italian chef Gabriele Bonci, who has two pizza restaurants in Chicago. Courtesy / Monica Eng

Food Mondays: Can Roman-Style Pizza Make It In Chicago?

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Among Chicago’s claims to fame is pizza — deep dish, pan and thin crust. Many love it. But does this city have room for a friendly competitor? Roman pizzas tend to have thinner crusts than their Chicago cousins, and WBEZ’s own Monica Eng wanted to know if this Italian style of pizza can make it in the Windy City. For this installment of our “Food Mondays” segment, Monica interviews Italian chef Gabriele Bonci, whose scissor-cut Roman-style pizza is making a splash in Chicago. Bonci’s namesake pizza chain has two American locations, in the West Loop and Wicker Park. He hopes the Chicago restaurants provide a springboard to the rest of the U.S. Curious City editor and former Rome-based reporter Alexandra Salomon provided interpretation for Bonci and also shares her insights on this particular style of pizza.