More Than a Chef: Tony Priolo on Food, Baseball, and Giving Back

He's the man behind one of the most iconic Italian restaurants in Chicago. Tony Priolo brings his passion for simple, delicious ingredients to every dish at Piccolo Sogno; many of them coming direct from Italy. The River West spot is beloved for its secret-garden patio, curated wine list, and seasonal cuisine. But Tony is much more than a chef and restaurateur. In this episode of Supper with Sylvia, he opens up about his humanitarian work in Ukraine - including flying there on his own dime after the war broke out - and shares why baseball brings him just as much joy as cooking. Get ready to leave hungry, and inspired. 

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This episode is brought to you by MARIANO'S. 

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Producer: Jennifer Waters

Transcript

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[01:00:00:00 - 01:00:03:05]
 (Music Playing)

[01:00:07:22 - 01:00:32:16]
Sylvia
 Today on "Supper with Sylvia," we're with one of Chicago's most revered and beloved culinary voices, Chef Tony Priolo. He is the heart behind Piccolo Sogno, an all-time favorite Chicago dining destination, featuring a garden escape I call the Enchanted Forest. But Tony's mission reaches far beyond his dining room, from bringing his signature sauces and quitting pasta to Mariano's Market.

[01:00:32:16 - 01:00:35:23]
Tony
 It's been a year to get to all the recipes down all three.

[01:00:35:23 - 01:00:48:00]
Sylvia
 To his profound work with Chicago chef's cook, Tony is a man of immense heart. We're going behind the scenes of his journey to Poland to feed refugees escaping the war-- Life journey.

[01:00:48:00 - 01:00:52:02]
Tony
 I cried. We all cried so many times. And all that, we did it four-wheel central kitchen.

[01:00:52:02 - 01:01:05:09]
Sylvia
 And discovering how this master of the kitchen finds his balance on the baseball diamond, from the Enchanted Forest to the front lines, and now to your home kitchen. Please welcome Tony Priolo.

[01:01:10:04 - 01:01:43:16]
Mariano's Ad
 At Mariano's, we love how every product has a story. And some of the best stories come from right here in Chicago. That's why we started We Love Local. It's our way of shining a light on small businesses, and farmers, and food makers who pour their hearts into what they do. When you see a local item on our shelves, you know you're supporting someone's dream and keeping our community strong. From family recipes passed down for generations to brand new ideas born in neighborhood kitchens, We Love Local brings those stories to your table. Because when local thrives, we all do. Mariano's is a proud sponsor of the Supper with Sylvia podcast.

[01:01:44:19 - 01:01:46:21]
Sylvia
 Tony Priolo, my friend. Great to see you again.

[01:01:46:21 - 01:01:47:14]
Tony
 Great to see you.

[01:01:47:14 - 01:01:54:06]
Sylvia
 Oh, I love it. You are sitting outside in your beautiful patio area at Piccolo Sogno.

[01:01:55:09 - 01:01:58:01]
Sylvia
 My favorite patio in the city of Chicago. Thank you very much.

[01:01:58:01 - 01:02:02:01]
Tony
 Thank you. We keep the patio of Piccolo Sogno open as long as we can.

[01:02:03:13 - 01:02:09:07]
Tony
 Normally, we don't get many October days. It's usually rainy or chilly. But we'll take everything as a blessing.

[01:02:10:10 - 01:02:29:17]
Sylvia
 Yeah, no kidding. OK, I'm excited because, as you well know, Mariano's is my first and proud sponsor of the Supper with Sylvia podcast. So when we talked about, you know, we want to talk to some of the people who are directly involved with Mariano's. And of course, yours was the first name that came up.

[01:02:30:17 - 01:02:35:05]
Sylvia
 You are a Mariano's tastemaker. Tell everybody what that is and how that all came about.

[01:02:35:05 - 01:03:30:06]
Tony
 Oh, that came about a long time ago when Mariano's first opened. Kind of a fun story. So the owner of Mariano's, Bob Mariano, the original owner, came to me. He was having trouble with some of his hot food items on the hot food and his pizza. He's like, Tony, I need help. So I went over there and I helped. I worked with their chef and getting the hot food in line and getting the pizza crispy because they were doing pan pizzas. And they wanted to pay me. Like, I'm not taking-- you know, this is fun for me. So then they made me a tastemaker. So and they're like, OK. And then they started promoting me at the store saying, tastemaker, Chef Tony Priolo. And that's where it all kicked out. Now, how many tastemakers do we have now? Yeah. And it's-- A lot. And it's gone to the next level, the top level where we're at, the tastemaker.

[01:03:30:06 - 01:03:33:07]
Sylvia
 That's so cool. So you were the OG? Is that what you're telling me?

[01:03:33:07 - 01:03:34:14]
Tony
 Really, yeah. I was the OG.

[01:03:36:11 - 01:03:53:11]
Sylvia
 That's awesome. So yeah, so you've had this long term relationship. And let's talk about-- you have several items at the store now. But let's go back to the very beginning. What were some of the first items that you got into Mariano's? Because I'm thinking of the balsamic and the olive oil, right?

[01:03:53:11 - 01:04:55:18]
Tony
 Yes, we had olive oil and balsamic. So that's how it started out. At Piccolo Sogno when we opened up in 2008, we wanted to have the best olive oil and the best balsamic we can find on the table. Those little balsamic cost us-- they're 35 year old, sorry, they're 15 year aged balsamic. They're very old. So they're very expensive. So we started putting it on the tables. And the olive oil, we had somebody bringing it from the hometown where my family comes from. They sell-- it's a small town in Sicily. They sell it together as a consortium. So a bunch of people get together and they sell that oil. So I had our buyer buy those two items I wanted. So we got them on the table. And we put our label on them and started selling them here. Because people would steal them or just put them in their bags. They'd say, oh, I can take this. So then we put it on their check. So then after a few months, our buyer, the guy that was bringing it in for us and labeling, it's like, maybe we should get that in the store. So I reached out to Marianos and was like, absolutely. Let's do it. So that's how we started out doing our olive oil and balsamic at the store.

[01:04:56:19 - 01:05:02:21]
Sylvia
 Yeah, and for people who have not been-- I understand why people were stealing them, because it is absolutely delicious.

[01:05:04:00 - 01:05:22:06]
Sylvia
 And those were the first two items that you got into Marianos. And I buy my Piccolo Sogno balsamic and olive oil at Marianos all the time. But it was just this year that you brought even more. So let's talk about that, because this is a pretty big deal. Yeah, you've got pasta. You've got sauces.

[01:05:23:07 - 01:05:25:12]
Sylvia
 Was this something that had been in the works for a while?

[01:05:25:12 - 01:06:03:18]
Tony
 Well, a lot of times people come to the restaurant. They're like, hey, can I have this to go? Can I have this sauce make cold? Or can I have-- so that made me think, like, you know, why don't we just find somebody locally to make the sauce for us, follow our recipes. It took a year to get to all the recipes down all three-- almost a year working with the batch breaker and the one that put it at the jars for us. And because it's a great-- I use it at home. Sometimes I don't have four hours. I have two little girls. And we're busy. They're doing events and soccer and what have you. So it's like so easy just to open up a sauce

[01:06:05:01 - 01:06:10:10]
Tony
 that I know it's going to be great. And then I take my pasta and I toss it and we have dinner.

[01:06:10:10 - 01:06:19:17]
Sylvia
 Yeah, I love it. Now, that is when you know something is good when the chef is using his own package stuff at home for the family. That's awesome.

[01:06:19:17 - 01:06:42:09]
Tony
 You know what? It is great. My kids love it. Everybody that I know that has used it, we sell it at the restaurant now. And we didn't bring a large variety of it. We just put the bonnet, our biatas, bonnet is the meat sauce, our biatas is spicy tomato, and then pomodoro sauce. And then we did four cuts of pasta to match with those so you can intertwine.

[01:06:43:09 - 01:06:55:01]
Sylvia
 And that's what I love about that is, yeah, you basically dinner served for us. It's so easy. But the coolest thing to me is your squirting pasta because that's one of my favorite dishes at your restaurant.

[01:06:56:04 - 01:07:08:11]
Sylvia
 Look at that. And so I look at the bolognese. I look at all the other things that maybe some of us can try to make at home, even try to make our own pasta. But I'm going to tell you, Tony, I'm not making squirting pasta at home. So this is a lifesaver.

[01:07:08:11 - 01:07:11:04]
Tony
 I know your daughter likes to. I know you like--

[01:07:12:23 - 01:07:16:10]
Tony
 and for me, it's a good one. It's super easy. I use the Arviato sauce.

[01:07:18:04 - 01:07:41:14]
Tony
 It's already cooked for a long time. It's got garlic and chili. So it's less things to buy at the store because it's already there. Or if you don't have time, like Saturday morning, I have three little things to do before I leave. So it's easy. My kids love shrimp. Salt, taste shrimp, 40 Arviato sauce, cooked the pasta. And within 15 minutes, I have a meal that actually probably took four hours to make, but I got it in 15 minutes.

[01:07:41:14 - 01:07:50:04]
Sylvia
 Yeah. And it is so delicious. And what made you think about the squirting pasta? Is it because it's such a popular dish at your restaurant?

[01:07:50:04 - 01:07:55:20]
Tony
 It's our number one seller here. And then if you go to the grocery store, any grocery store, there's no squirting pasta.

[01:07:57:07 - 01:08:09:12]
Tony
 So I thought it was a win-win. It's part of something we've had on the restaurant since 2008. And you have spaghetti, a neari with seafoods. And you go to any grocery-- now you can get it at the grocery stores.

[01:08:09:12 - 01:08:25:02]
Sylvia
 Yeah. That's so great. And I can't imagine-- like I said, trying to make that home would be a little more difficult. That was featured in my newsletter a couple of weeks ago because I took an Ina Garten recipe and I used Tony Priolo's sauce and the squirting.

[01:08:25:02 - 01:08:28:23]
Tony
 But you're cooking my pasta with Ina Garten's recipe.

[01:08:31:03 - 01:08:43:06]
Sylvia
 It turned out so beautiful and it looked so professional. I felt like a chef. It was so awesome and very simple. So do you have plans then to maybe expand what you are now doing with Mariano's?

[01:08:43:06 - 01:09:08:15]
Tony
 Not at this time. I like to focus on things. And we'll focus on this for a while as long as they'll keep us there. We'll focus on that. We'll do some demos, get it out there. And then maybe I was thinking about at one point maybe putting a matcha grana sauce because that's a really hard sauce to make. And everybody loves it. It's like the pancetta or guanciale, red onions, and tomatoes. And it's so good.

[01:09:09:19 - 01:09:19:04]
Sylvia
 That sounds good. OK, these are secret family recipes. Let's talk about how these recipes came into your life. I understand you were working at restaurants when you were just a teenager.

[01:09:19:04 - 01:09:21:20]
Tony
 Yes, yes. What, I don't look like a teenager anymore?

[01:09:21:20 - 01:09:23:07]
Sylvia
 No, you're still a teenager.

[01:09:24:09 - 01:09:40:17]
Tony
 Yeah, I've been working at restaurants since I was 14 and 1,5, 15. I started washing dishes at a restaurant by my house. My mom knew somebody that owned a restaurant. And then I started doing prep and worked my way up. I'm 55 now, so I'm very blessed. I didn't even know you had earphones on. Look at that.

[01:09:40:17 - 01:09:43:04]
Sylvia
 Yeah, I do. How about that? They're hiding behind my hair.

[01:09:43:04 - 01:09:43:16]
Tony
 I just have ears.

[01:09:46:03 - 01:09:46:04]
 (Laughter)

[01:09:46:04 - 01:09:54:16]
Tony
 And so that's where it began. My grandmother lived with us in a one and a half story brownstone on the northwest side of Chicago.

[01:09:55:19 - 01:10:06:03]
Tony
 And my parents both worked, and she was always home, babysitting us. And she was always cooking. So that's what made me want to cook. So I'd come home to school and cook with grandma.

[01:10:07:07 - 01:10:22:22]
Tony
 So that's where the influence came in. So she used to take me around on bus. We lived on the northwest side. We'd go to Little Italy on Taylor Street, take two or three buses. She'd get in trouble when she came home because we were coming home late because we'd stopped at stores, had coffees and cookies,

[01:10:24:00 - 01:10:25:08]
Tony
 showing me off to all her friends.

[01:10:27:01 - 01:10:33:23]
Tony
 And that actually taught me to be a better chef because my grandmother went far above and beyond just to get the best ingredients.

[01:10:33:23 - 01:10:36:15]
Sylvia
 Yeah, you're all about that, I know.

[01:10:36:15 - 01:10:47:05]
Tony
 Yeah. So the same with our sauces. It's just simple, but finding the best tomatoes. All of our sauces are made from San Marzano imported Italian tomatoes.

[01:10:48:08 - 01:11:02:09]
Tony
 The garlic, we have an arugatas local. Olive oil, they use our olive oil, comes from a small town in Sicily, Trimina, where my family comes from. So these are things that I do at the restaurant and I wanted to do it here.

[01:11:03:14 - 01:11:07:02]
Sylvia
 So what's up with San Marzano? Everybody says they're the best. Why is that?

[01:11:07:02 - 01:11:18:19]
Tony
 Well, it's the area where they're growing. There's a volcanic ash that's in the soil, which makes the tomato acidity and sweet. It's like a perfect balance of that. So people try to say it's a San Marzano type.

[01:11:20:00 - 01:11:25:08]
Tony
 You can't get San Marzano tomatoes in California. California is great tomatoes, but it's completely different for sauce.

[01:11:26:10 - 01:11:28:05]
Sylvia
 And you could tell the difference. 100%, yeah.

[01:11:28:05 - 01:11:36:05]
Tony
 Yeah, and there's no sugar added in any of these sauces. A lot of people have sugar to balance the acidity. This is all natural. This is God's work.

[01:11:37:07 - 01:11:44:22]
Sylvia
 Yeah, it is so delicious. So are these recipes that you learned with your grandmother or that have developed over time, maybe a combination of both?

[01:11:44:22 - 01:12:12:12]
Tony
 In essence, yes. I mean, she would do a little bit different. She didn't really have the ability to get Italian tomatoes when I was growing up. And by the time she had passed away, I was probably seven or eight. And I don't remember her using-- she was getting olive oil. We were going to get olive oil. But the tomatoes, they really didn't have back then. So it was just the techniques that I learned from my grandmother that I put in the sauce.

[01:12:13:14 - 01:12:19:04]
Sylvia
 Yeah. And did you work in Italy at some point? Did you actually serve-- Tell me about that.

[01:12:19:04 - 01:12:28:09]
Tony
 I spent some time in Tuscany in a short time at a restaurant called Da Delfina. It's in probably a few minutes outside of Florence,

[01:12:29:10 - 01:12:36:12]
Tony
 probably 45 minutes outside of Florence. And I went there, spent half a month there, closer half a month just working,

[01:12:37:16 - 01:13:05:02]
Tony
 and just seeing. And it was owned by this family. And Da Delfina was the mom of the owner. And she was out there in the garden every day picking the vegetables and meeting with the farmers and the cheese farmers. And she would bring that in. So that just also just kind of nailed it for me, exactly what I grew up in. But another city and another country were doing the same thing, finding the best ingredients and using them and making recipes with it.

[01:13:06:13 - 01:13:20:21]
Sylvia
 And then you end up working at a few places here, very well-known. And then you open your own restaurant. Was that a dream come true? Or was that just this huge challenge? Did you ever think to myself, oh my gosh, what have I done?

[01:13:20:21 - 01:13:57:03]
Tony
 Yeah, well, sometimes. But Piccolo Sogno means little dream. My business partner Chiro came up with the name because him and I, we worked at another restaurant together. And him and I always talk about, hey, one day, let's do this together. One day, let's do this together. And at one point, I just knew it was right. So I called up Chiro. He was in LA. I said, Chiro, I'm ready. Let's do a restaurant. So we were looking around. He was in LA. He flew in one or two times. And I found this location. And we trusted each other because, hey, let's look at this. Let's take it. We were lucky enough to get the location. And here we are 17 years later.

[01:13:57:03 - 01:14:07:14]
Sylvia
 Wow, 17 years. That's a huge accomplishment, especially in this industry with everything that we've gone through with COVID. Incredible. So congratulations to you.

[01:14:07:14 - 01:14:27:11]
Tony
 Yeah, the landscape for restaurants are not 17 years in longevity, especially everything. Because restaurant community, we're always the first one to get shut down or we get first one to get ordinances and first one that, oh, now all of your employees have to have this certificate. That's $10 an employee or $15.

[01:14:28:13 - 01:14:29:23]
Tony
 We always absorb everything.

[01:14:31:04 - 01:14:35:23]
Tony
 When there's a recession, first thing people cut off is restaurants. But where is it?

[01:14:35:23 - 01:14:37:00]
Sylvia
 How are things now?

[01:14:37:00 - 01:14:37:23]
Tony
 Yes. And oh,

[01:14:39:01 - 01:14:51:01]
Tony
 with the political landscape, there's a lot of trauma and things that we can't control. So we just do what we do. We cook.

[01:14:52:09 - 01:14:54:11]
Tony
 And that's important because everybody has to eat.

[01:14:56:02 - 01:15:16:19]
Sylvia
 And eat delicious comfort food, too. I love that, obviously, cooking is a huge passion, has been since you were young. But I've got to talk to you about something. You and I have never really discussed this. So apparently, you love baseball. Oh, yeah. And you were playing for a minor, minor league team. Explain this to me.

[01:15:16:19 - 01:15:23:01]
Tony
 Yeah, so I've been playing baseball back in my old job probably in 2000.

[01:15:24:10 - 01:15:26:08]
Tony
 I played when I was a little kid and I loved it.

[01:15:27:18 - 01:15:43:07]
Tony
 Somebody in my family did a family dream when I was seven or six. I can't remember. And I have it at home. I said, what do you want to be when you grow up? I said, I want to be either a professional baseball player, professional chef. So those are two things that I love and I've always loved.

[01:15:45:05 - 01:16:21:13]
Tony
 And so I just focus on cooking because that was so easy and so much passion. It made it easy, actually. But I always had baseball. And I stopped playing after I was in my Kenny Hobbs, I think, when I was like 12 years old. Then I was in my 20s. Somebody reached out to me, hey, I'm joining this baseball team. You should come out. My eyes lit up like, wow, where has this been all my life? So I went in and I started playing. I was completely bad. I hadn't played in 20 something years. But here I am now 20 something years later still playing. I go to tournaments. Thankfully,

[01:16:22:22 - 01:16:32:20]
Tony
 I'm healthy enough in this way I work out. But I go to tournaments in Arizona, Florida. I'm starting to go with-- I play in a league here. Now I'm playing in a fall league.

[01:16:34:14 - 01:16:51:12]
Tony
 And it's fun because it's who I am. I still can play baseball. I can still cook. And luckily, my family allows me to go play baseball. And it's one of those things that it's not harming anybody.

[01:16:53:04 - 01:16:58:14]
Sylvia
 No, and you're having fun. It's probably a great outlet for you too because I know it can be very stressful.

[01:16:58:14 - 01:17:01:03]
Tony
 Perfect catharsisone for me.

[01:17:02:06 - 01:17:03:18]
Tony
 Yeah, it helps me keep in shape too.

[01:17:05:10 - 01:17:10:01]
Sylvia
 I was going to say, but another thing that's really stressful about baseball is your Cubs fans.

[01:17:11:13 - 01:17:13:04]
Tony
 I grew up on Waveland, by the way.

[01:17:14:05 - 01:17:31:01]
Tony
 My neighbor at the end of my state as a kid growing up was this gentleman called Kenny Holtzman. He used to be a player for the Cubs. And we lived in a 6,200 block at Waveland. So we played baseball in the city. She probably had four corners. There were sewers. And the middle sewer was our pitching mound.

[01:17:32:02 - 01:17:50:18]
Tony
 And he lived on a corner. So we'd play. Didn't know he was a professional baseball player. He'd come home from work. Hey, guys, can I come play with you? So he'd play with us. He'd pitch to us. There's some 2-0 hitters, I think, in 79 or 78. And he played baseball with us, with the ball with us, or baseball with us.

[01:17:51:18 - 01:17:52:10]
Tony
 It was kind of fun.

[01:17:52:10 - 01:17:53:04]
Sylvia
 What a memory.

[01:17:53:04 - 01:17:54:03]
Tony
 Still remember it.

[01:17:55:04 - 01:17:56:01]
Sylvia
 That is so cool.

[01:17:57:04 - 01:18:01:09]
Sylvia
 So between baseball and running your restaurant,

[01:18:02:10 - 01:18:12:16]
Sylvia
 and now you've got this Mariano's thing going on, you're very busy. But you always make time to try to do things that will help other people. I see you at all these charitable events all the time.

[01:18:12:16 - 01:18:14:06]
Tony
 You do, too. I see you everywhere.

[01:18:14:06 - 01:18:17:16]
Sylvia
 Yes, I know. And I'm usually covering you is why I'm there.

[01:18:17:16 - 01:18:18:06]
Tony
 I'm big out with you.

[01:18:18:06 - 01:18:32:14]
Sylvia
 I mean, you started Chicago Chef's Cook right after the Ukraine war broke out. And you and I have talked about this again. But I think it's worth repeating. Share that story with me, because it's one of my favorite stories that you tell.

[01:18:32:14 - 01:18:50:11]
Tony
 Thank you. Back in preparation for baseball, I'm working out in a gym. I was getting up probably 5 o'clock in the morning, which is probably too early. And I was working out in a gym in my house. And I put the TV on that day. And I was literally watching the live war,

[01:18:52:01 - 01:19:22:09]
Tony
 Russia attacking Ukraine. And I said to myself, what the hell can I do to help so far away? And I remember chefs banding together. We always help each other. We're always there for each other. I remember in particular, Jimmy Banos, a good friend of mine, local chef, went Katrina, Hurricane Katrina. He just because he was cooking Cajun food, he bonded. He got a group of chefs together. And we did a fundraiser to help Hurricane Katrina. So that popped in my head. So I reached out to the Illinois Restaurant Association

[01:19:23:10 - 01:19:25:21]
Tony
 and asked them, send an email.

[01:19:26:22 - 01:19:43:14]
Tony
 And I didn't get a reply because they were on vacation. Sam and Mary Kay were both on vacation. So I'm like, it's like 7.30, 8 o'clock. Said, screw it. I'm just gonna send a bunch of emails out to all my friends. And I said, basically, I said, guys, ladies, chefs,

[01:19:44:23 - 01:20:03:03]
Tony
 let's do something for this poor tragedy of what's going on. I'll do all the leg work. Let's do an event. Everybody jumped in. Giuseppe Tintore was the first guy, he like texted me, I want, I'm in, count me in. And then it just kept escalating. By the end of the day, I think we had close to a hundred chefs.

[01:20:04:06 - 01:20:26:10]
Tony
 Sarah Stegner jumped in and said, hey, I wanna be a part of this. So I was like, okay. And I didn't know Sarah that well. I was like, sure, no problem, let's do it. So, and then she had people she was on the board with, with Green City Market. So they helped us, Ida and Darren, and they helped us organize it. But I led, I called all my, and this was in two weeks, we did it.

[01:20:26:10 - 01:20:27:15]
Sylvia
 Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

[01:20:27:15 - 01:20:31:10]
Tony
 Reach out to you, everybody I knew at every TV channel, newspaper,

[01:20:33:09 - 01:20:40:19]
Tony
 sponsors, I called Danny Wertz, and Danny's like, whatever you need, I got you. So he donated all the alcohol, the city of Chicago.

[01:20:43:00 - 01:20:52:16]
Tony
 I knew people that were working like in commissioners and things, they said, yeah, we'll help you. And I wanted the best iconic location, Navy Pier. So they gave us the ballroom in Navy Pier.

[01:20:54:07 - 01:20:57:10]
Tony
 And I signed off and I have personal guarantee to pay for it.

[01:20:59:03 - 01:21:07:16]
Tony
 And they worked with me on the price, and it was almost nothing compared to what it should have been, and we ended up raising $650,000 in two weeks.

[01:21:09:00 - 01:21:10:12]
Sylvia
 That's incredible.

[01:21:10:12 - 01:21:21:12]
Tony
 That was two, it was two weeks after the war started. And the event was on the day that the restaurants were all shut down because of COVID. Two years later on the anniversary.

[01:21:22:17 - 01:21:38:12]
Sylvia
 Oh, it was two years to the day. I remember that event because there have been many held since, and I remember that event. First of all, Navy Pier Ballroom is studingly beautiful, overlooking Lake Michigan. It was such a festive, happy atmosphere. How many chefs did you have total?

[01:21:38:12 - 01:22:05:05]
Tony
 Close to 100. And you know, the great people of Navy Pier, the staff of Navy Pier said, you know, let's go take a picture upstairs. This is iconic location. We haven't done this in years. We have all the chefs up on that location, and we have a picture of that. And it's Chicago in the background. One of the best views that's hidden, and we were lucky to do that. And then during all this, I was talking with some other chefs,

[01:22:06:14 - 01:22:12:17]
Tony
 Paul Cajon and Sepi Tatori, and we were trying to figure out a way to go to Ukraine and cook.

[01:22:14:12 - 01:22:28:12]
Tony
 Oh, backtrack really quick. So during that whole time, I sent an email to all the chefs saying, hey, where should we donate the money to use it to the places that are taking money for donations that are reputable, and everybody hands down said World Central Kitchen.

[01:22:30:02 - 01:23:15:12]
Tony
 So we sent all the money to them, and now I have a great relationship with them because I've done other events with them. But backtrack, so as we sent them the money, Giuseppe, Paul, and myself wanted to go there, and Paul Cajon was really the, who was the fire behind us. Like, hey man, we really need to do this. Let's go, let's find a way. So we all went to Ukraine on our own money. We spent money on air. Actually, one of my customers donated his miles and flew us all there to Ukraine, to Poland. It was actually on the border of Poland, and we paid for our hotels and our meals, and we went and spent 16 hours a day per week cooking for 30,000 people coming over, across the border, and running away from food.

[01:23:16:13 - 01:23:17:05]
Tony
 It was insane.

[01:23:17:05 - 01:23:20:05]
Sylvia
 So that was a life-changing trip, wasn't it?

[01:23:20:05 - 01:23:26:04]
Tony
 Yeah, life-changing. I cried, we all cried so many times. And all that, we did it for World Central Kitchen. We worked with that.

[01:23:27:12 - 01:23:30:20]
Sylvia
 This is a great place to take a break, and we'll be right back.

[01:23:34:10 - 01:23:44:22]
Sylvia
 If you're enjoying supper with Sylvia, please like and share with family and friends, and also leave a comment. We love and need your support. Thanks for listening to "Supper with Sylvia."

[01:23:49:22 - 01:24:11:04]
Sylvia
 So give me, kind of paint a picture for me. Take me back to the most memorable day in Ukraine, when you were setting up during that 16-hour day to feed people, because these were refugees that were coming from Poland. They were coming-- To Poland, from Ukraine.

[01:24:11:04 - 01:24:40:09]
Tony
 And they were coming at that point. It was the furthest part of Ukraine, closest to Russia, all the way across the country, to Poland. And it might've taken them a week or two weeks to get there through a trail, like train, underground, buses, and what have you. I think, and so we're in the kitchen. We don't really realize. We're just cooking, heads down, busting our butts. And then we start going at night after we start cooking, after working long hours, and we get something quick to eat. Then we go to the camps.

[01:24:41:12 - 01:24:43:12]
Tony
 At the camp was the most,

[01:24:45:11 - 01:24:53:03]
Tony
 there's two moments that stick into my head. The first is when we went to take out friend, Eric Fleinberg up from the train station before we started.

[01:24:54:07 - 01:25:05:06]
Tony
 He was in the train station in Shemesh, Poland, which is on the border. It was just all mothers and children with one bag, or two bags, or a laundry cart,

[01:25:06:23 - 01:25:11:14]
Tony
 just sitting there waiting for a train. And we saw that and we just started crying.

[01:25:12:20 - 01:25:36:01]
Tony
 That was one iconic moment. And then the next was seeing this little family, these two little kids running across to see their grandfather and grandmother covered in, like they're covered in dirt. And they were so happy with big smiles on their faces to see their grandparents, because they, somebody helped them cross the border to see their grand, who knows how long. And then there was one other one.

[01:25:37:10 - 01:25:44:13]
Tony
 We had just finished cooking. We were at one of the camps. It was on the border. There was this couple, very well dressed,

[01:25:45:21 - 01:25:46:18]
Tony
 nice clothes.

[01:25:47:19 - 01:26:19:10]
Tony
 They came to us, and I don't speak Ukrainian. I had no new ties, neither does Giuseppe or Paul. And they came to me and they didn't know what to do, right? So I'm giving them water, fruit, and food to be cooked. And she turns her husband, starts to cry, comes to me and like falls and says, thank you. Like they had no expectation of people just giving them something, warm hot meal. And I think it was borscht. We made borscht for the day that day.

[01:26:20:11 - 01:26:27:19]
Tony
 And it just made their day. And I just like, we all just put in the back of the side of the ball and saying.

[01:26:30:02 - 01:26:35:07]
Sylvia
 Tell me how that trip has impacted you today. What difference has it made in your life?

[01:26:35:07 - 01:26:37:06]
Tony
 It definitely opens up your eyes when you see,

[01:26:38:08 - 01:26:59:12]
Tony
 you know, with the political landscape that's going on now, you don't know what tomorrow brings, right? And everything that's going on here, who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow. So you have to hug your children and make sure that you're present and you're ready because those poor people one day, they're playing soccer in the backyard. The next day they're getting attacked from another country,

[01:27:00:16 - 01:27:10:21]
Tony
 right? So with the segregation that's going on in our world today, who knows what's gonna happen with all that political craziness going on out there.

[01:27:10:21 - 01:27:28:08]
Sylvia
 Yeah. I mean, I can't imagine coming back from a trip like that wouldn't have an impact and it sounds like it is. So you continue to do your philanthropic work. You're no longer necessarily with Chicago chefs cooks, but I know you're doing other things.

[01:27:28:08 - 01:27:35:09]
Tony
 Yeah, I stepped down and just, I needed to spend more time with my family and I really wanted to keep it really, you know,

[01:27:36:21 - 01:27:43:05]
Tony
 you know, I spent a lot of time on that and have that time to offer anymore.

[01:27:43:05 - 01:27:58:14]
Sylvia
 But you did do an amazing dinner that I was a part of after the California wildfires. And you also had somebody from World Central Kitchen there. So you are still keeping very connected with them. In fact, yeah, in fact, don't you have kind of a title with them with the WCP?

[01:27:58:14 - 01:28:09:11]
Tony
 Chef's Corps. So if there's a disaster somewhere in the United States or anywhere, we all bond together and we, you know, put our heads together and say if something, God forbid never happens here in Chicago,

[01:28:10:16 - 01:28:15:01]
Tony
 we have contacts, locations, we'll set up kitchens and

[01:28:16:23 - 01:28:33:03]
Tony
 we'll, you know, there was a fire at some apartment building a year ago and I went and scouted the location, let them know what I saw and they wanted, you know, like so if there was need for water or food, so that's what it kind of comes down to.

[01:28:33:03 - 01:28:48:19]
Sylvia
 Yeah, I love that, that they have these chefs corps in different area and you guys step up to whatever's going on. That's great. I mean, I feel like you guys are a nurturing lot. So it's just innate in you to want to help all the time.

[01:28:48:19 - 01:28:52:03]
Tony
 It goes back to the restaurant culture. What we do is cook and we feed people.

[01:28:53:05 - 01:29:03:10]
Tony
 It doesn't matter like if we pay, you get paid or not, you know, if somebody's in need, we're there for them. And then, and it's definitely in line with Girl Central Kitchen, you know, what they do.

[01:29:04:14 - 01:29:13:07]
Tony
 And it's just to have people with no food and when you have food and you're capable of doing something, God gave us a talent, why not use it, right?

[01:29:13:07 - 01:29:46:12]
Sylvia
 Yeah, well, thank you for doing that. And now I have to ask you because I don't know, I've told you this before, but you know, we're coming up on our year anniversary of supper with Sophia and we have interviewed a whole lot of people, including you. Yeah, you guys are really great people. I've seen it. Right? But I, and thank you for your support by the way, but I love the fact that I always ask everybody that I've had, you know, what's your favorite Chicago restaurant or what's your go-to restaurant? Your name has come up with the likes of Rick Bayless, Michael Muser,

[01:29:47:13 - 01:29:54:22]
Sylvia
 let's see some of those chefs that I spoke to, they all talk about Piccolo Sogno, Sam Toya from the Illinois Restaurant Association.

[01:29:54:22 - 01:29:55:07]
Tony
 Yeah, I'm blessed.

[01:29:55:07 - 01:30:20:04]
Sylvia
 I mean, you're, Piccolo Sogno constantly comes up. Eric Williams, everybody has mentioned you, if not number one, indefinitely the top two. So here I have the man, you know, well, you're doing an amazing job. So I wanna ask you, and it's not necessarily a question of what's your favorite, it's what's your go-to? Like if people are listening, where does Tony Priolo go when he wants to go out?

[01:30:20:04 - 01:30:29:00]
Tony
 You know, when I go out, if it's something with the kids, we like to go somewhere in the neighborhood, nothing crazy or fancy, but like go out. I mean, I love virtue, I love Mooger Cafe.

[01:30:30:06 - 01:30:37:04]
Tony
 I'm excited, Giuseppe Tatori, when he cooks, wherever he's gonna end up, will be one of my favorites too.

[01:30:38:20 - 01:30:57:22]
Tony
 Sarah from Monteverde, I mean, it's just tickets to if I want, you know, something great from Damira. I mean, there's so many amazing restaurants here. Jill Flom, you know, I haven't been to El Garchoful, but I have Rosemary, most memorable meal. You can't go wrong here, you know, it's,

[01:30:59:02 - 01:31:06:12]
Tony
 I can't pick one, you know what I mean? You know what I sometimes, I get home from work or a baseball, it's like 1130 at night. You know what I make?

[01:31:07:13 - 01:31:08:12]
Tony
 What? Peanut butter and jelly.

[01:31:09:17 - 01:31:10:00]
 (Laughing)

[01:31:10:00 - 01:31:11:00]
Sylvia
 No way.

[01:31:11:00 - 01:31:18:01]
Tony
 Yeah, I always say, you eat too much peanut butter and jelly. I love, you know, a crusty hard bread with peanut butter and some local jam.

[01:31:19:05 - 01:31:21:09]
Tony
 I get this jelly from this place in Wisconsin.

[01:31:22:13 - 01:31:24:08]
Tony
 And who doesn't love peanut butter and jelly?

[01:31:25:15 - 01:31:35:10]
Sylvia
 Okay, but you're eating a special peanut butter and jelly. It sounds like, you know, that's what I love about this too. Like who knew Tony Priolo's favorite go-to is peanut butter and jelly.

[01:31:35:10 - 01:31:37:11]
Tony
 Well, it was the last time I saw you had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

[01:31:37:11 - 01:31:41:02]
Sylvia
 Oh, I don't think I can remember, but maybe I need to find out.

[01:31:41:02 - 01:31:53:01]
Tony
 I think you and your daughter should go have a peanut butter and jelly tonight. Get some great potato chips. I think Jose Andreas has some potato chips at Mariano. Yes, he does. Get those potato chips, get a great bread.

[01:31:54:10 - 01:31:59:01]
Tony
 Yeah, you and Miguel should go have peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You're gonna get crazy heated up.

[01:32:00:11 - 01:32:02:06]
Sylvia
 Okay, oh, what kind of bread do you like yours on?

[01:32:02:06 - 01:32:13:01]
Tony
 I like crispy like wheat bread or, you know, if you go to the public quality breads, they have some great breads, good slice bread. Any bread that's crusty and, you know, I love it.

[01:32:13:01 - 01:32:22:06]
Sylvia
 See, I remember when I was a kid and I used to love a PB and J on Wonder Bread. Pure sugar Wonder Bread, stick to your roof.

[01:32:22:06 - 01:32:27:13]
Tony
 I sure you don't. No, we don't. But we do have the round ones that are frozen.

[01:32:27:13 - 01:32:29:02]
Sylvia
 Oh, the crustables?

[01:32:29:02 - 01:32:41:04]
Tony
 Crustables, yeah. Those are our go-to for baseball. Like when we play tournaments, we'll buy a couple bucks because you don't need the refrigerator, just eat them. Right, oh yeah. Maybe you're playing two games, but kids like every once in a while.

[01:32:42:07 - 01:32:54:18]
Sylvia
 So you're teaching me PBJ and I interviewed Farmer Lee Jones, he introduced me to a tomato sandwich in season with the Duke's man-mays, which I did not know about Duke's.

[01:32:54:18 - 01:33:02:22]
Tony
 Duke's is great, Jimmy Banel's turned me on to Duke's. Okay. And then with a nice, thick slice tomato Duke's man, crusty bread. It's like eating a steak.

[01:33:02:22 - 01:33:09:03]
Sylvia
 Oh my gosh, no kidding. Especially when the tomatoes are at their peak season, right? So good.

[01:33:09:03 - 01:33:14:02]
Tony
 You know what I like also in this time of the fall here, black spaghetti,

[01:33:15:12 - 01:33:16:08]
Tony
 Arbiato sauce,

[01:33:17:12 - 01:33:20:03]
Tony
 shrimp, and you can even put some broccoli in there.

[01:33:20:03 - 01:33:22:13]
Sylvia
 Oh, that's good, okay.

[01:33:22:13 - 01:33:24:21]
Tony
 Broccoli florets, sauce together.

[01:33:24:21 - 01:33:26:06]
Sylvia
 Okay, that sounds delicious.

[01:33:26:06 - 01:33:28:01]
Tony
 You know pasta dinner right there.

[01:33:28:01 - 01:33:33:09]
Sylvia
 There you go, I'll be heading to a Mariano's to pick all of that up this weekend for sure.

[01:33:34:18 - 01:33:38:23]
Sylvia
 So what's going on with you? What's happening in the future? You're a busy man.

[01:33:38:23 - 01:33:50:08]
Tony
 You know, let's see, future, just focusing on people, I have an amazing staff here. Luckily we have people here for a really long time.

[01:33:51:15 - 01:33:54:20]
Tony
 Mike, our chef, Alfredo, Ulysses, my partner, Chiro,

[01:33:55:21 - 01:33:56:02]
Tony
 Nick.

[01:33:57:20 - 01:34:02:15]
Tony
 The guy that's been making our saucy A, the guy who makes some stock sauces, Martin has been here forever.

[01:34:04:10 - 01:34:16:04]
Tony
 It's kind of like the end of our season, they've been working their butts off, so getting them, spending more time with them, because they've been busy, and just appreciating them, that's important to me.

[01:34:17:21 - 01:34:18:11]
Tony
 Family-wise,

[01:34:19:17 - 01:34:24:08]
Tony
 now kicks in, I have this wilderness princess program that I do.

[01:34:24:08 - 01:34:25:07]
 (Laughing)

[01:34:25:07 - 01:34:29:18]
Tony
 Love it, yes. So yeah, we're doing camp outs with my girls this weekend,

[01:34:31:00 - 01:34:33:12]
Tony
 and guess who's a designated cook on that one?

[01:34:34:15 - 01:34:35:15]
Sylvia
 Oh, I bet, what are you making?

[01:34:35:15 - 01:34:37:23]
Tony
 I'm making paella for like 40 people, yeah.

[01:34:37:23 - 01:34:41:18]
Sylvia
 Ooh, wait, the kids are eating paella on the camp out?

[01:34:41:18 - 01:34:48:07]
Tony
 Actually, I have them help me stir it. They have big pans, an open fire. Wow. We're prepping all the ingredients, and yeah, we're gonna make paella.

[01:34:49:12 - 01:34:55:14]
Sylvia
 Oh my gosh, if I was a child, I definitely wanna be in your wilderness camp out here.

[01:34:55:14 - 01:34:57:04]
Tony
 That's insane. Yeah, we're the Apache and Park Ridge, yeah.

[01:34:57:04 - 01:34:58:01]
 (Laughing)

[01:34:58:01 - 01:35:03:17]
Sylvia
 The Apache and Park Ridge are eating well, Tony, having that paella, that sounds amazing.

[01:35:05:04 - 01:35:29:01]
Sylvia
 So as we wrap up here, it's always such a pleasure to talk to you, and I have so much fun with you. Yeah, we've known each other. You're one of my all-time favorites. We go way back, but you're such a giver. I know you try to help the up-and-coming people to find just kind of parting words about your career and your goals and your mission and what you hope to accomplish.

[01:35:29:01 - 01:35:39:21]
Tony
 I just, one of my biggest things is, I wanna make sure that when I put my head down at night, my pillow, that I have no regrets, right? And do everything as best as I can, you know?

[01:35:41:01 - 01:36:00:13]
Tony
 That's one, and I wanna make sure that feel the next generation of chefs or what have you, that they wanna learn Italian the way I do it. I would love to teach them, and it's just simple, it's nothing creative. I'm not gonna win awards here and there, it's not for that, it's just cooking from my heart and making sure that they get great products, great food.

[01:36:02:10 - 01:36:11:00]
Tony
 Long-term goal is maybe retire one day and go to every ballpark with my family if they wanna go, or I can go by myself.

[01:36:11:00 - 01:36:11:19]
 (Laughs)

[01:36:11:19 - 01:36:14:10]
Sylvia
 That sounds like fun, that sounds like fun.

[01:36:14:10 - 01:36:16:22]
Tony
 But my short-term goal is to come to the World Series.

[01:36:18:02 - 01:36:43:09]
Sylvia
 Oh, wow, okay, well, you know, let's see, let's cross our fingers, they said it couldn't happen, and we've already seen it once, so we need to see that again, right? But before we wrap up, because everybody is always, you know, talking about how Piccolo Sogno is your favorite, I wanna tell everybody, my favorite things at Piccolo are, well, the squid ink pasta, of course, the branzino, I love your branzino, I ordered every time I go.

[01:36:43:09 - 01:36:45:12]
Tony
 We've been cooked it in cappels every Christmas.

[01:36:45:12 - 01:36:58:01]
Sylvia
 Yes, it's so good for a Christmas segment we did for Fox 32, that was awesome. So give me your top five sellers at Piccolo Sogno, when people come to visit, and they're trying to figure out what to order, what are the most popular?

[01:36:58:01 - 01:36:59:07]
Tony
 Okay, branzino,

[01:37:00:11 - 01:37:09:12]
Tony
 spaghetti niri, ravioli, Piccolo Sogno, rostachan, which is very short ribs, poppardelle with wild boar, so the top right there.

[01:37:09:12 - 01:37:17:20]
Sylvia
 Yeah, all so delicious, so delicious. Tony, thank you for taking the time out, I love that you're sitting in that back patio, I wish I was there

[01:37:17:20 - 01:37:19:01]
Tony
 with you, but-- I had a staircase there, yeah, I had to.

[01:37:19:01 - 01:37:48:12]
Sylvia
 It's so pretty, and that's not even the half of it, so if you get a chance, go out there while you can to enjoy that back patio, if you don't make it in time, because it turns too cold, no, it's also wonderful in the winter time, and Tony has become my family's holiday tradition, we spend our holidays out at Piccolo in the winter time indoors, so happy to have you, Tony. Well, best of luck with everything, and I'm gonna be heading to Mariano's to get my special Tony Priolo squid ink pasta.

[01:37:48:12 - 01:37:50:17]
Tony
 As do I find there too, love that.

[01:37:50:17 - 01:37:54:07]
Sylvia
 And then I'll tell my daughter about the peanut butter.

[01:37:54:07 - 01:37:56:02]
Tony
 Tell my daughter you guys have to have that part.

[01:37:57:12 - 01:37:58:16]
Sylvia
 Let me know, thanks Tony.

[01:37:58:16 - 01:37:59:12]
Tony
 Thanks.

[01:37:59:12 - 01:38:02:11]
Sylvia
 Yeah, I'll send pictures, my food post.

[01:38:02:11 - 01:38:13:11]
Tony
 Thank you, yeah, and it's super honored to be on "Supper with Sylvia." I remember when you talked about this three or four years ago, and "Ladice Lion and Frolation," and the people you have interviewed so far, amazing.

[01:38:14:21 - 01:38:37:19]
Sylvia
 Thank you, Tony, thank you for your support. I will see you soon, my friend. Before we go, a little heads up, our next episode in two weeks will be our last of season two. We're working on some incredible things behind the scenes that I can't wait to bring you once we start up again. So make sure you're subscribed and join me back here on the last Thursday of January for our final episode of season two.

[01:38:38:23 - 01:38:47:12]
Sylvia
 This podcast is produced by Jennie Waters, original audio and music editing Donnie Cutting, social media and promotions, Iliana Blasdell.