Book a table at Livia Italian Eatery—the new Italian spot in downtown Elmhurst—and you’ll see things that will make your head spin and eat food that makes your stomach purr. Every night, giant butcher boards dappled with Italian antipasti—truffled nuggets of gouda, pink curls of prosciutto, and savory mounds of marinated artichokes and briny olives—come marching out of the kitchen to salivating diners.

Blink your eyes and another mouthwatering delicacy will fly by. Gorgonzola-crusted lamb chops. Bowls of four-cheese-stuffed tortallacci. And juicy pork chops as big as a porterhouse. And then there’s the dining room itself, flush with custom copper chandeliers, solid-walnut furniture, a marble bar and a baby grand piano that drifts toe-tapping harmonies across the entire open-floor plan.