On the table: Purple Pig—Cheese, Swine & Wine

A trio of heavy-hitters is teaming up for what's sure to be fall's biggest restaurant opening: Jimmy Bannos (Heaven on Seven), Scott Harris (Mia Francesca) and a yet-to-be-officially-named third party will unveil the Purple Pig in mid-September, smack-dab on the Mag Mile at 500 North Michigan Avenue. Mediterranean is the best umbrella to encompass the menu, which all three chefs will have some input on. Overseeing the project at close-hand is Bannos's son Jimmy Jr., but before you go thinking that good old-fashioned Chicago-style nepotism landed the gig for Junior (or "Uncle Jun" as his Pops calls him), you should know that the younger Bannos has some serious culinary chops: After nabbing a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales and an externship at Emeril's, he went on to Providence's Al Forno, spent six months cooking across Italy, then landed in New York as part of the opening kitchen crew for Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Del Posto and followed that up with a year at Dave Pasternack's impeccable seafood spot Esca. So what will he do in Chicago now that he's teaming up with Dad and friends? "The best stuff you've eaten in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece," says Bannos Sr. "We just want to have a wine bar with no pretension, incredible cheeses, beautiful panini, sausages like Spanish morcilla and cured meats like pata negra, seafood cooked a la plancha, stuff like this Sicilian dessert where they split brioche and stuff gelato in it, great wines under $40 with everything by the glass, the quartino or the bottle.... It's gonna be the real deal."

As far as the setup, the team has 1,800 square feet to work with, and it is filling it with a massive L-shaped bar, as well as high-top communal tables. The goal is to be open by September 15, to serve food all day and to offer $4–$10 small plates ("I know everybody says small plates," Bannos Sr says. "But I'm a notorious over-feeder so let's call them 'medium plates'"). And the name? "We like pork and we like wine," Bannos Sr says. "And what happens when a pig drinks wine? It turns purple."

Purple Pig—Cheese, Swine & Wine (500 N Michigan Ave)