The Pasta Shoppe and Cafe

If you’re a fan of gourmet pasta served at hotels in Chicago or at any Francesca’s or Rosebud, you know the work of the family behind The Pasta Shoppe.

“This is a laboratory for all of our products,” Gabriele Romanucci says of the Italian grocery and café that he and his parents, Anna and Dino, have run on Oak Park Avenue for seven years. Cut and filled testing materials come from the family’s wholesale operation, the Pasta Factory, in such essences as mushroom, spinach, parsley, chili, red pepper and black squid. The plant, which is in Northlake, makes more than 2,000 varieties of fresh pasta.

The Romanuccis sell to restaurants and grocers in 18 states, from Whole Foods Market throughout the Southwest to La Bella Pasteria, on South Boulevard. Their pasta has been in Neiman Marcus and in Wal-mart. In the pre 9-11 era, it was on United Airlines flights.

Creativity with fresh pasta comes from Chef Anna, who starting wowing diners in the late ’70s at Benvenuti’s in Villa Park, the Romanuccis’ first restaurant. It was there that she introduced rotolo, slices of lasagna noodles that have been rolled in cheese and herbs. Word of the chef’s pasta know-how made the next Romanucci restaurant a destination, too: Piccolo Mondo Café in Hyde Park. In one pause from the family business, Chef Anna worked with Charlie Trotter.

Creativity is infectious among the Romanuccis. It’s not just Chef Anna dreaming up fun with pasta. Her son likes playing with food, too. For an appetizer called Bastoncini al Gorgonzola — the blue cheese version of a mozzarella stick — credit goes to Gabriele Romanucci.

On your birthday:

The candleholder is Chef Anna’s tiramisu.