One of Taylor Street’s Oldest Italian Restaurants Is Closing

— Chicago’s Little Italy on Taylor Street will lose one of its longest-running restaurants. RoSal’s Italian Cucina, which has been open for 28 years at 1154 W. Taylor Street, will close for good on May 13, ownership announced on Facebook: “We are super excited to be starting a new chapter in our lives but will miss everything about the restaurant; the floors, the twinkling lights, the amazing smells from the kitchen, the delicious food and most of all you!” Duck Inn chef-owner Kevin Hickey is one of its many fans, as he highlighted it on an Eater Chicago map of his favorite near South Side restaurants and said “RoSal’s may be the last of the old-school Italian restaurants on Taylor Street.”

— Iliana Regan’s Kitsune is one of GQ’s best new restaurants in the country for 2018. The magazine describes it thusly: “‘Fusion’ isn’t a dirty word when it’s as delicate as this mash-up of Japanese cooking and midwestern bounty.” Esquire also picked it as one of its best new restaurants — last year.

— The chef of Brendan Sodikoff’s ever-popular barbecue spot Green Street Smoked Meats is leaving to open his own spot. Bradley Hudetz, who has been its executive chef for three years, plans to open Station One Smokehouse in suburban Plainfield this summer, which will serve central Texas-inspired barbecue in a historic former firehouse, he writes. Dave Bonner will replace him at Green Street.

— Passerotto, the highly-anticipated Korean-Italian restaurant from former Snaggletooth partner Jennifer Kim, should open in early May, the Tribune reports.

— Popular Evanston-based Detroit-style pizzeria Union Squared continues to grow, as its Evanston location is in the midst of an expansion that will double its size and seating, the Daily Northwestern reports. Union has already opened a location in the Loop’s Revival Food Hall and plans to open a Wrigleyville location with an attached cocktail bar this spring.

— Chicago was home to the largest ever auction of Burgundy wine on April 13 and 14, according to Bloomberg, which totaled more than $7 million.

— And finally, recently-crowned “Top Chef” Joe Flamm of Spiaggia threw out the first pitch at the White Sox game yesterday. Watch the South Side native’s toss below.