Business & Tech
Cafe Lucci Eyes Rosebud's Highland Park Location
Glenview restaurant may expand to Renaissance Place.
The owners of Glenview-based Café Lucci hope to open a second restaurant in Highland Park location in Renaissance Place when Rosebud’s lease expires, a Café Lucci executive said Wednesday.
“We are in talks with the landlord,” said Bobby Arifi, wine program manager and a co-founder of Café Lucci.
Arifi opened the current restaurant with his father, Sam, and brother, Augie, the restaurant’s chef, in December 1995.
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Café Lucci at 609 Milwaukee Ave. serves regional Italian cuisine in what critics have referred to as elegant surroundings, and has garnered multiple awards from Wine Spectator magazine for its 800-plus wine list.
“We have a longstanding relationship with the people from Highland Park,” Arifi said, adding that Highland Park residents make up a large part of the establishment's customer base.
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Arifi said he hopes to occupy the Rosebud space by the middle of August, though he emphasized that the talks are ongoing.
“Nothing is secret on the North Shore,” Arifi said.
The move would be an expansion, as the original restaurant will remain open. Arifi noted that the Highland Park venture “would be similar in concept and style” to the Glenview location.
Both Bobby and Augie Arifi used to work for the Rosebud restaurant company from 1990-95 before opening their restaurant, and the Café Lucci website credits Rosebud for preparing the Arifis for their venture.
Rosebud has apparently been extending the lease in Highland Park despite plans announced last year of its intentions to move to a more casual venture in Deerfield.
Bridget Kagan, marketing coordinator for the Downtown Highland Park Alliance, said that while "we certainly love having Rosebud in the downtown,” the space will be successful whatever the outcome.
Deerfield officials recently confirmed that Rosebud is in the construction phase at the former Baker’s Square restaurant on Waukegan Road, although the to open this spring.
Rosebud declined to comment on either its Highland Park or Deerfield plans.
