Client Feature: Rich Labriola

nat rosasco • October 6, 2015

Since 1993, when Rich Labriola started Labriola Baking Company, his name has been synonymous with unparalleled artisan bread. At a young age, Labriola was drawn to this hearty food. Determined to create the highest quality bread around, he worked with masters in Germany, Italy, and France, eventually perfecting his recipes with his own aged flours, starters, and special ovens. His breads, including baguettes, ciabatta, and his renowned pretzel bread, can now be found in over 700 restaurants and shops.

Labriola opened Labriola Bakery and Cafe in 2008. This counter-service restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois, features items including salads, burgers, pastas, and Neapolitan-style pizzas created from dough that is freshly made on a daily basis.

In 2013, after success with the Bakery and Cafe, Labriola sold a majority stake in his Labriola Baking Company in order to expand his restaurant business. Apparently, once a restaurateur, always a restaurateur, and looking at his new ventures, we sure are glad he felt this way.

Labriola Ristorante and Cafe opened on the Magnificent Mile at the beginning of this year. With 300 seats, it’s an expanded version of Labriola’s original Oakbrook eatery, featuring a larger menu of traditional Italian fare. Inside you’ll find a bakery and cafe, along with a bar and formal dining area.

His most recent endeavor is Pizza Barra , an artisan pizza place. Pizza Barra explores a new world in the art of pizza making with its ciabatta-style pies. He teamed up with Chef Chris Macchia to also include Chicago deep dish and thin crust pizzas on their menu. With seasonal toppings, as well as options for salads, pastas, and other entrees, this Oakbrook restaurant will more than satisfy every one of us.

At Reclaimed Table, we’ve had the opportunity to work with Labriola on several of his restaurants, including Stan’s Donuts (Wicker Park location), Labriola Ristorante and Cafe, and Pizza Barra (featured in the image at the top of the page). We have to reveal that his upstanding authenticity doesn’t stop at his food.

What’s next for Rich Labriola? We’re thrilled to say that he and Macchia have plans to open a second Pizza Barra downtown in 2016 (and it looks like the new location will be an easy commute from our office!).

Have you ever dined at one of Labriola’s restaurants? Have a dish or doughnut you always find yourself craving? Let us know in the comments below!

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Inventory Sale

By nat rosasco • January 22, 2019

Reclaimed Table's huge selection of one-off, custom table tops are being sold at deep discounts at our Villa Park showroom. Find the durable tables you need for your next project, at prices you won't come across again!

Client Feature: Oak Tables & Benches for Navy Pier's Centennial Vision

By nat rosasco • July 17, 2018

Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier has always been a popular attraction since it opened just over 100 years ago in 1916. It currently welcomes 9 million guests per year. As explained on the Navy Pier website, the Pier was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost and was originally based on architect’s Daniel Burnham’s “the People’s Pier” in his 1909 Plan of Chicago . It was originally known as “Municipal Pier,” but was renamed in 1927 in honor of the World War 1 Navy personnel who were housed there. As we blogged about a couple of years ago , Navy Pier has been undergoing renovations in honor of its “Centennial Vision” to reimagine and enhance the pier. While updating the pier with new programming and a greener landscape, this vision has also been attracting more local eateries ( like Tiny Tavern ) and shops, creating a space that’s more inviting to local Chicagoans. After providing pieces for the first phase of the remodel last year, we were pleased to continue to be part of this project for the recently completed phase two. Partnering with Gensler, we provided white oak tables and benches near the main entrance and for the brand new, 200,000 square foot Family Pavilion that features over 50 businesses. Fortunately, these pieces were created not only with their visual aesthetic in mind, but also to impressively withstand this sort of high traffic area. We also built the reclaimed red and white oak blade signs flanking all of the restaurants and shops, which creates a unified look within the complex. Much like the Pier, these signs have an interesting, rich history behind them. The red and white oak wood used to make the signs were actually horse fences on a farm in Mercy County, Kentucky that dates back to the late 1800s. Mercer county was one of the first settlements in the state, and the farm itself, Shawnee Springs, was originally over 2,000 acres. In the 1970s the farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. We knew the Navy Pier project was the right one for this specific wood-- historic wood for an historic landmark. (See our other applications of reclaimed red and white oak Kentucky horse fence here .) Check out photos of our tables, benches, and signs at the recently updated and unveiled Pier below. And if you’re in the Chicagoland area, you can check them out for yourselves in person, along with a whole host of entertainment on the Pier. Interested in some durable tables and benches for a high-traffic area? Contact us here to get started on your next project.

Aging Booker's Bourbon: Finding the 'Sweet Spot' for Flavor

By nat rosasco • June 18, 2018

When it comes to aging bourbon, Booker’s small batch bourbon has the process literally down to a science. Currently produced by the Jim Beam distillery, it was Jim Beam’s grandson, Booker Noe, who founded this brand in 1992 with bourbon from barrels he personally selected. According to the Booker’s Bourbon website, Booker was actually raised at a Kentucky distillery and brought his family’s six generations of master distillery knowledge to his bourbon batches. How does Booker’s perfectly age their bourbon? As we pretty much all know, bourbon ages in wooden barrels. When the weather becomes hot and humid, like it does during those sticky Kentucky summers, the wood expands and absorbs the bourbon, allowing for a chemical interaction between the bourbon and the wood. In colder weather, the wood contracts and the bourbon escapes the barrel’s walls. This interaction changes the spirit’s taste and color. The longer bourbon is in the barrel, the smoother the taste, (up to a certain point, that is). Barrels are kept in rackhouses where temperatures can easily be regulated. Rackhouses were originally built out of stone with several wooden floors and an exposed dirt basement to control humidity and large temperature swings. The windows were designed to keep the buildings well-ventilated.