TONY PRIOLO
Chicagoan Tony Priolo has known since childhood that he wanted to be a Chef; he started cooking at the age of eight with his Sicilian grandmother at their northwest side home. His first restaurant job was as a 15-year-old prep cook in an Italian restaurant near his house. He went on to graduate at the top of his class from The CHIC in 1989 and quickly dived into Chicago’s competitive Italian restaurant scene. Priolo’s style of simply prepared Italian food caught the attention of Chicago restaurant critics and diners in 1997 at Coco Pazzo and Coco Pazzo Cafe. Later he was made partner in both restaurants. Under Priolo’s direction, Coco Pazzo was honored by many leading local and national food awards Like Dirona, AAA and high ratings in Zagat, Fodor’s, Local magazines, and newspapers.
In 2008, he left Coco Pazzo to pursue his dream of owning his own restaurant. He partnered with long time close friend Ciro Longobardo to open Piccolo Sogno, Piccolo Sogno has been awarded high marks in many local and National media. Priolo has also been a regular guest on Chicago television stations as well as on National TV. In 2018, he was on The Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay” show and ended up battling Bobby in the Pumpkin Challenge and swept both Chefs. Tony is also known for his support of many local and National charities.
In March of 2022 he led a team that organized a sellout event for the people of Ukraine and helped raise more than 650 thousand dollars for the World Central Kitchen/in Ukraine. Chef Tony took his skills to go and cook on the border fort the refugee camps in Poland to help feed the people of Ukraine. With that same Team, he also helped organize and Event for the people of Tigray Ethiopia as they are in a similar situation and raised money and awareness of the refugees and also a fundraiser for The Hurricane of PR. In 2022, for all of his efforts he was named by Chicago Magazine as one of the “Chicagoans of the Year” for 2022. This is the magazine’s most prestigious award. His philosophy is to find the best ingredients possible for his guests, and sources specialty items From Italy and local sources to bring a true Italian dining experience at Piccolo Sogno as well as to put others first before his needs.
