by Ashok Selvam

The wait's almost over for the North Shore as the owners behind Ballaro, a new 112-seat Italian restaurant, hope —pending inspections— that they'll open in three to four weeks in suburban Highwood. The restaurant, an homage to Italy's Ballaró market in Palermo, was conceived by two North Shore friends, Mark Newman and Josh Kaplan, the latter whose father is former WBBM radio food critic and news anchor Sherman Kaplan.

Expect modern Italian cuisine infused with French techniques. Handmade pastas will highlight the menu. Other items that could appear include risotto with wild gulf shrimp, preserved lemon and parsley; and gnocchi with butternut squash, brown butter, sage, baked ricotta salata and pumpkin seeds. 

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Source: http://chicago.eater.com/