A new fast casual restaurant focused on all-things polenta has opened on Lake Street in the West Loop. Milan natives Emile Chalouhi and chef Camillo Villa opened The Polenta Bar at 1002 W. Lake St. last week. Chalouhi and Villa moved to Chicago from Italy to open the restaurant this year. 

While American Italian cooking often focuses on pasta dishes, the cornmeal-based dish is a staple in Northern Italian cuisine, Chalouhi said. "In Milan, polenta is basically what pasta is in southern Italy. On top of that you literally would put everything," Chalouhi said.