The Purple Pig
By Naperville Magazine
May 2026 View more Table for Two
By Phil Vettel
High on the hog in Oak Brook
Seventeen years is a long time between a restaurant and its sequel, but it took that long before The Purple Pig, the renowned Mediterranean restaurant on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, opened its second location in Oak Brook (15 Oakbrook Center).
Please excuse Tony Mantuano, one of the original Purple Pig partners, for the delay. In that time span, he opened and/or operated four other restaurants, including the legendary Spiaggia, the pizza-focused Bar Toma, and Terzo Piano (all in Chicago), and most recently the fine-dining Yolan in Nashville.
Now he’s back in town, along with partners Cathy Mantuano (also his wife) and Tom and Marianna Shubalis, bringing Purple Pig—albeit a fresher, more modern version—to the western suburbs.
The restaurant made its debut in early March and very quickly found an eager audience. “It’s been pretty nice to see how responsive the community has been,” Tony says. “We haven’t even done much to get the word out, we’ve been so busy. Last Saturday, we had nearly 500 customers.”
The menu is well organized (a good thing, given the breadth of choices), divided into categories rather than the default appetizer-entrée-sides format. At the top of the menu are the charcuterie and cheese options, always a Purple Pig strength (pick two for $22 and add extras as you desire), followed by bread options, principally the soft, spongy focaccia, paired with a particularly delicious olive oil.
My advice is to spend lots of time with the vegetable and pasta categories. Among the former, you’ll find a picture-perfect melange of colorful roasted beets, brightened by a pickled kumquat vinaigrette and a dab of crème fraîche. Roasted carrots are more textural, presented in a variety of thicknesses along with radicchio, pecan granola, and honey-whipped goat cheese. Sausage-stuffed piquillo peppers, topped by almond breadcrumbs and supported by an ’nduja sauce, is spicy enough to grab your attention without dominating the meal.
Pastas are made fresh daily and, should you be feeling festive, can be augmented with black truffle for a $30 supplement. The truffles definitely lent a party atmosphere to the rigatoni with white Bolognese sauce (actually older than the more familiar, tomato-rich Bolognese) sprinkled with Parmigiana-Reggiano.
Sadly, four-star Spiaggia is long gone (a victim of real-estate pressure), but its gnocchi with wild boar ragu (a Spiaggia mainstay) has been resurrected here. Feather-light gnocchi with sturdy strands of meat, bound with a rich tomato-based sauce—a nice reminder (for me, at least) of days gone by.
Seafood choices include the appetizer-size tuna crudo over a pickled-fennel salsa verde, nasturtium aïoli, and sunchoke chips as well as the more substantial griddled octopus with chunks of potato over a vivid-green chimichurri purée.
“Crispy fried pigs ear” isn’t particularly attractive sounding (my companion blanched when I ordered it), but it has been a part of Purple Pig since its earliest days. Think kale salad with tomatoes, pickled onions, and thin pieces of fried pig ear, topped with a sunny-side egg. It’s fun to cut up and incorporate the egg (the kitchen will do this if you say pretty please), and the disparate flavors come together beautifully.
And I love the grilled pork chop, juicy and tender with beautiful exterior color, sliced off the bone and arrayed around a salad of celery, apples, Brussels sprouts, golden raisins, and mustard glaze. A must-try dish.
A tight dessert menu, executed by pastry chef Karen Gizowski (with some preopening input from James Beard semifinalist Noelle Marchetti of Yolan), includes an assortment of gelati and sorbetti in not the usual flavors. More interesting are the espresso Pavlova, with espresso creme and chicory meringue; and the pine nut tart, featuring dulcey custard (think white chocolate with caramel notes) and poached rhubarb in a fluted pine nut Breton.
The beverage program is heavy on wines, but there’s a full range of cocktails (the large, white-quartz bar is a great place to hang out), including zero-proof cocktails and a couple of low-ABV drinks.
The by-the-glass wine assortment, overseen by Cathy Mantuano, is notable for its range. Albarino from San Luis Obispo, Chardonnay from Greece—this is one of the few times I can call a wine list “curated” without wincing.
The dining room is elegant, considerably larger than the downtown original, done in dark wood, bright-white walls, and black ironwork. Tables and semicircular, padded booths have elegant LED lamps; white globe lights hang from the exposed ceiling at various heights. Tile inlays brighten the wood-plank floors. There’s room for around 200 customers, and another 50 seats will be available when the outdoor space opens in early May.
Just past the dining room is a market space serving coffee, pastries, and other goodies for dining in or taking out. The housemade gelato and sorbetto varieties are available here, along with the by-the-slice pizzas that Bar Toma was known for.
Executing all that fine kitchen work, by the way, are culinary director Brian Motyka, executive chef Michael Elliott, and executive sous Eryn Cisneros. Given that previous chefs under Mantuano include James Beard Award winners Sarah Grueneberg, Missy Robbins, and Michelle Bernstein as well as Top Chef winner Joe Flamm, I’d keep an eye on these three.
Photos: Matt Haas/Haas and Haas; Jen Banowetz (exterior)
