Chicago’s Alla Vita to Open Outpost in Wedgewood Houston
Wedgewood-Houston, which is already home to several of the city’s best Italian restaurants — including Il Forno and iggy’s — soon will be home to another Italian standout. In an exclusive, the Scene has learned that Chicago’s Alla Vita will open a location in the neighborhood in 2026.
“Wedgewood Houston has become a hub for thoughtful, well-executed food, and I’m excited for Alla Vita to be part of that,” Chef Lee Wolen tells the Scene. “There’s a strong creative spirit in the neighborhood, and it’s the kind of place where people appreciate good cooking. I’m looking forward to being here and adding our voice to the mix.”
Wolen has a long list of career accolades. He’s been a James Beard Award finalist many times, spent three years at New York’s acclaimed Eleven Madison Park, and has garnered a host of Chicago and industry awards.
Wolen promises an Alla Vita menu that builds on what has made the restaurant beloved in Chicago: Italian classics that shouldn’t be revolutionary at this point but somehow are. Wolen describes it as “fresh, approachable Italian food.” Favorites include arancini filled with scamorza cheese and served with ’nduja aioli and fennel pollen, chopped salad with gem lettuce, radicchio, finocchiona, pepperoncini and tomato in a red wine vinaigrette, wood-fired pizzas, and — be still my heart — cacio e pepe ricotta dumplings.
Owned by Chicago’s Boka Restaurant Group, which is also opening Momotaro in the neighborhood (and a third concept TBD soon), Alla Vita is a project in partnership with developer AJ Capital. Alla Vita will open across the street from Pastis Nashville, in the Wedgewood Village development.
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