Several Alumni Involved in New Mount Prospect Restaurant

Siblings Nick '97, Joe '98, Tony '00, and Gina Papanicholas '03 Bertolini opened their second restaurant last month in Mount Prospect, and though they didn't realize it at the time, The Prospect involves several Saint Viator High School alumni.

 

The Papanicholas siblings work closely with additional Saint Viator alumni, including Gina’s husband, Nick Bertolini ’03, who serves as director of strategic partnerships, Andrew Hayes ’11, who serves as assistant general manager; and Patrick Cloud ’04, who serves as director of operations for the family’s hospitality arm, Big Fish Hospitality Group.

 

The Prospect opened in July and already is drawing a buzz of excitement – and repeat customers, including from the Saint Viator family. 

 

The restaurant is attached to the 20 West luxury apartment building in downtown Mount Prospect, which was both developed and built by the family's construction and development entities, Nicholas & Associates and Wingspan Development Group. The Papanicholas siblings waited for years to develop the right restaurant concept for their hometown.

 

“We wanted to attract a unique hospitality concept that would put Mount Prospect on the map as a culinary destination,” Gina says. “As much as anything, we wanted to bring something new to Mount Prospect that paralleled a city experience.”

 

She adds that the family knew they could do the build of the new restaurant based on their years of construction experience across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida. Keeping it both local and in the family, they enlisted the help of Katie Papanicholas, Nick’s wife, to curate the furniture and accessories for The Prospect, drawing from her design concepts that she features in her Mount Prospect store, Gold + Oak.

 

However, finding the right chef and hospitality concept was key, and the family tirelessly tried to find their match. Chef Mauro Berruti resonated with them. He brought his experience from Gibson’s Italia, Bazaar Meat Chicago and Chicago Cut Steakhouse to the project.

 

Cloud, too, brought his 20 years of culinary and management experience to the group. As director of operations for the family’s hospitality group, he oversees all aspects of the food and beverage, as well as offering on-site management support.

 

He describes The Prospect as a new American bistro with an Argentinian and Italian influence. The Argentinian influence comes from Chef Mauro, who is a native of Argentina, but was also trained in Italian fare.

 

Cloud is a seamless fit in his role, as he completed an externship after culinary school at a family-run cooking school and hostel in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It was there that he learned to love Italian cooking, with all its fresh ingredients.

 

“We really wanted to do something different in the restaurant scene in the Northwest suburbs,” Cloud says. “We want to pay a little more attention to service, where doing the little things right can add up to big moments.”

 

The Prospect features an open-concept design with an exposed kitchen and large food-prep counters in view of patrons and on the ground level, and a second floor which provides a different vibe and offering.

 

“We feel it’s pretty rare in the suburbs to have a second-floor lounge and open terrace experience,” Gina says. “The aesthetic of the space, combined with the elevated views, really transport you to a city vibe without leaving the suburbs.”

 

Which was the point, after all, to elevate customers’ experience to something new and different, while retaining their hometown roots, which includes their collective time spent at Saint Viator.

 

“We didn’t realize it, but our combined years at Saint Viator span a long time, and we all know a lot of people,” Gina says. “Our Viator roots run deep and we love seeing familiar faces come to the restaurant to dine or enjoy a cocktail. We all look at our time at Viator as the place where we built a great network of lifelong friendships. That our career paths all crossed to bring The Prospect to life is very much a testament to this.”