Elgin cafe closing, but not for very long

A noted downtown Elgin restaurant is closing on New Year's Eve but could reopen as soon as late January as the third Villa Verone.

Geneva restaurateur Pietra Verone confirmed the deal Saturday, joking that he has "one (restaurant) in the 630 area code and in the 815 area code. I need one in the 847 area code. Otherwise, life wouldn't be complete.

"Actually," he added, "I need another restaurant like I need a hole in the head. But I've had happy times in Geneva and Sycamore and, hopefully, it will be the same in Elgin. I hope the Elgin community will take me in."

Café Magdalena owner Fred Steffen said the restaurant -- located in a 116-year-old brownstone at 13 Douglas Ave. -- will be leased by Verone with an option to buy. Steffen, 73, is getting out of the business after a six-year stint.

"It's been downhill lately. It's costing us too much. But I know he'll do fine," Steffen said of Verone. "He's quality. I had a couple of other (potential) buyers, but no one had his background."

Verone said he's attracted to the Elgin location and the building.

His Sycamore restaurant at 416 Hamilton St. is in a building more than a century old. The Geneva Villa Verone, at 219 W. State St., is in a building constructed in 1849, he said.

"I like the way things were built in the old days," he said. "I like the classy look."

He plans to make minor renovations and hopes to open his Elgin restaurant by late January.

"It will have my personal touch," Verone said, "a family place, a good atmosphere and good food."

Verone was born in Naples, Italy, and came to the U.S. at 18. He worked in several restaurants before opening a place in Chicago's Lincoln Park with a friend. He and his friend also opened a restaurant in Glen Ellyn, but they ultimately went their separate ways. He no longer owns the other restaurants.

Steffen and his wife, Judy, own the Elgin building, and will continue to live in their apartment on the top floor. Café Magdalena is on the main floor, and there are Chinese and Thai restaurants in the basement. Both will remain open.

Steffen said he's also retiring from his law practice, and plans to spend more time traveling, and with his eight grandchildren.

As for Verone, he says he isn't in it for the money.

"I don't need a lot of money," he said. "I need to meet a lot of good people."