Chef Roby to open small-plates restaurant in Geneva

It's been five years since I first met chef Alain Roby when he was leasing a storefront on Third Street in Geneva to raise money for Saving Tiny Hearts, a cause he remains devoted to because of a heart illness that affected his son.

At that time, the famous pastry chef was also commuting daily into Chicago from Geneva to his job as a head pastry chef for Hyatt Hotels, a position he held for 25 years.

After finishing my interview about what he was calling “a chocolate kitchen,” I engaged in some small talk with chef Roby. I told him he should skip the commute into the city and just open a chocolate shop in Geneva.

“I think he took your advice,” said Esther Roby, Alain's wife and business partner. When operating the pastry shop, then a block south of Dodson Place, to raise funds, Alain and Esther Roby noticed how many people came into their shop and raved about it.

So, other factors weighed far heavier than a Daily Herald columnist telling one of the world's premier pastry chefs what to do. The concept of what is now the All Chocolate Kitchen surely crossed his mind well before I came wandering into his first store. A year or so later, he created his full-time gig at 33 S. Third St.

The next chapter of this popular setup begins with a soft opening around Jan. 27 for PRIMO, a new restaurant offering various Italian and French specialties. After a year and a half of thinking about adding this 25-seat “small plates' restaurant, Roby finally expanded his current shop to include PRIMO.

“We are still hoping for Jan. 27 as a soft opening, but the grand opening we are planning to have would be around Feb. 24,” Esther Roby said.

“The food will be incredible,” Esther said. “Really unique cheeses, and eggplant, vegetable and lamb dishes, doing some things his grandmother and mother did.”

Visitors can come for small meals, or for cheese and wine, or soup and salads. “Of course, he will have special desserts just for PRIMO,” Esther added. PRIMO will be open only in the evenings.

The success of All Chocolate Kitchen couldn't happen to nicer folks. Chef Roby and his wife Esther always have wide smiles for their visitors, so they know the power of caring about their customers.

Elburn and its pizza

When Elburn firefighters Michael and Christine Huneke opened Firehouse Pizza and Grill in Geneva early last year, I asked if they were concerned about being within a block of the popular Aurelio's Pizza and Morano's Pizza.

If you have a good pizza, there is room for many pizza establishments in the same town, or even same area of the city, they said.

That now applies in Elburn itself, as a Rosati's has opened at 860 N. Main St., putting it in direct competition with Paisano's and recently opened Shore Louie's.

Rosati's owner Amin Kanchwala has pizza in his bloodlines. His father operates Chicago Pizza in Batavia.

When you combine all of the pizza places I just mentioned in this column item alone, that's a lot of good pizza.

For those meats

One of the great meat markets on Earth is about to expand.

OK, that might be a little bias and a fairly dramatic way of saying it is good to see that Ream's Meat Market in Elburn is moving south on Main Street to take over the former Papa G's restaurant spot. So let's tone that down just a bit and say that one of the finer meat markets in the Fox Valley region is expanding.

Owners are circling the end of February on their calendars to open the new Ream's.

That new spot will be much larger than the current shop at 128 N. Main St., which will remain in the hands of owner Randy Ream. He's been hinting that a restaurant or some other use of the building is a possibility.

A PechaKucha change

Michele Martzel, promotional services manager at the Batavia Public Library, informed me that the date of the next PechaKucha night will be Feb. 29 at Riverview Banquets. It was previously planned for Jan. 21, but that date fell too close to the holiday season, so planners figured more time would be better, Martzel said.

The first event last fall was an interesting night in which speakers provide a short synopsis, 20 images for 20 seconds each, on various topics. Those lined up to speak include Craig Foltos, Chris Cudworth, the Rev. Yvette Marie Eber, Joe Gagnepain, Sue Lusted, Steve Warrenfeltz, Alvaro Amat, Sara Elliott, and Dan Van Haften.

For those lovebirds

Now that my son has proposed, officially making his girlfriend a fiancée, notes about wedding expos suddenly catch my eye easier.

So, I'll share one.

The Hickory Knolls Discovery Center in St. Charles will host its fourth annual Wedding Expo from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 17, offering engaged couples information from all sorts of wedding service providers.

The center is at 3795 Campton Hills Road.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net