2026 Leadership Lunch @ Quartino Ristorante, Speaker: John Coletta Managing Partner of Quartino

  Mark your calendar to join The Colony Chamber of Commerce monthly for our leadership lunch.  The lunches are held on the third Thursday of the month at various locations.   You will also receive updates from the Chamber, City and LISD.  
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JUNE PROGRAM: SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY MANAGING PARTNER JOHN COLETTA FROM QUARTINO'S

John Coletta
Founding Chef / Partner
Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar

John Coletta, a first generation Italian-American, is a chef, restaurateur, author and respected veteran in the Chicago and International culinary communities. As Founding Chef and Partner of Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar, John preserves the authenticity of regional Italian cuisine, through honed culinary techniques and authentic Italian ingredients.
The son of Italian immigrants and former owners of a neighborhood restaurant.
With an insatiable appetite to learn from European thoroughbred culinary masters, from the legendary St. Regis Hotel and Waldorf Astoria Hotel to the Four Seasons Restaurant and Le Coup de Fusil, John earned his stripes as an apprentice for revered chefs such as Arno Schmidt, Seppi Renggli, Yannick Cam and Andre Rene. After his eight-year rotation among these world-renowned hotel and restaurant kitchens, John went on to train under Three - Star Michelin chefs Pierre Wynants and Pierre Romeyer in Brussels, Belgium, Alain Ducasse at Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Joel Rubuchon in Paris. 
With an international view of the culinary scene under his belt, it was no surprise that John's next step was to command a kitchen of his own. As Executive Chef at Nikolai's Roof of the Hilton Atlanta, John earned a Four-Star Award from Mobil and the prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants & Institution Magazine.
John oversaw an army of over 450 cooks in ten different restaurants at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Soon after, he was proclaimed one of the four big guns of Asian hotel cuisine by the Sydney Morning Herald, while serving at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. Through this worldly exposure, John was able to acquire his share of accolades.
John's reach as a chef broadened when he became a culinary Olympian. An individual gold medalist in the 1984 Culinary Olympics, he went on to snare another gold medal in Frankfurt, Germany in 1992 as part of the Culinary Olympic Team Central USA.  As a member of this team, he developed his now deep-rooted sense of discipline as a chef and earned the title of one of America's Rising Star Chefs by PBS television.
His expertise on the international stage earned him the opportunity of advising the 1994 USA National Team at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg, which earned The World Championship among competitors from around the globe. At the 1997 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, Chef Coletta shared the billing with the likes of Julia Child and Paul Bocuse as part of the Visiting Masters from the World of Food Program.
In 2004, John embarked on a partnership with founder Steve Lombardo to bring his vision of a classic, urban-Italian ristorante to life. John infused Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar's seasonally driven menu with authentic regional preparations of rustic Italian recipes many of which date back 200 years.
 
In 2009, Coletta authored and published 250 True Italian Pasta Dishes, a cookbook dedicated to his passion for La Vera Cucina Italiana. Quartino has received three stars from the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Under Coletta's leadership also earned the coveted Ospitalita Italiana, which is awarded by the Italian government and recognizes restaurants which uphold the traditions of Italian gastronomy. In 2018 Quartino has also been included into the World's 70 Best Italian Restaurants with Pizzeria from Ristorazione Italiana Magazine. Quartino has been featured in local, national and international publications including The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Today's Chicago Woman, Michigan Avenue Magazine, Plate Magazine, National Culinary Review, USA Today Travel, Il Giornale di Vicenza, Italia a Tavola and more.
On March 13, 2018, Coletta becomes the Best-Selling Author of "Risotto and Beyond" 100 authentic Italian rice recipes for Antipasti, Soups, Salads, Risotti, One-Dish Meals and Desserts. Filled with 80 color photographs, varying Italian rice types and their cooking methods, and is selected as the recipient of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 1995-2020 25 years Anniversary Best of the Best Recipient at The Macao International Book Fair held on July 4, 2019.
Chef Coletta is the recipient of the highly prestigious Antonin Careme Medal in San Francisco on November 4, 2019.
John served as an advisor for the ACF National Culinary Team USA 2020 and 2024.The ACF National Culinary Team USA 2020 and 2024 have earned 2 silver medals at the 2018 & the 2022 Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg with the advisement and guidance of chef Coletta.
Actively serving as the Vice Conseiller Culinaire des Etats-Unis of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. Inducted into the Academie Brillat-Savarin and awarded the Medaille de Merite on February 20, 2020, and on June 5, 2021, elevated to an official fellow of this distinguished organization. On August 2, 2021, John was presented with the American Culinary Federation's 2021 Award of Culinary excellence. The recipient of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs bronze star. Awarded the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs silver star on June 4, 2022.
Elected an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Chefs on July 26, 2022, in recognition of outstanding culinary achievement and service in the culinary profession in the United States of America.
On June 1, 2023, Chef Coletta was presented with the Academie Brillat-Savarin Medaille Fondateur of honor.