Celebrity chef De Laurentiis shares what’s coming to Joliet restaurant

Future visitors to Sorellina by Giada in Joliet can expect a blend of food, aromas and visual appeal unlike anything they have experienced, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis said.

Laurentiis on Wednesday provided interviews to Chicago-area media about her plans for the restaurant that will be part of the future Hollywood Casino Joliet now under construction and expected to open late this year.

She has been in Joliet working on plans “to create an experience that they (diners) are not going to have anywhere else,” De Laurentiis said. “That’s my goal.”

De Laurentiis is a renowned chef who has four restaurants in Las Vegas and Scottsdale, Arizona. She formerly had a show called “Giada at Home” on the Food Network and currently hosts the show “Winner Cake All” on the network.

The announcement of a De Laurentiis restaurant coming to Joliet is the kind of attention-getting news that has been promised since the start of developing the Rock Run Collection, where the casino is being built.

Rock Run Collection is located at the crossings of Interstates 55 and 80, a potential destination spot that developer Cullinan Properties and the owners of Hollywood Casino Joliet expect to attract a market from a wide area.

“We think the Sorellina by Giada is going to pull people from the region, certainly from the Chicago suburbs,” Ruben Warren, vice president and general manager of Hollywood Casino Joliet, said.

Warren pointed to the 230,000 vehicles a day that go past the future site of Hollywood Casino Joliet, compared to 10,000 vehicles a day that pass its current location off of U.S. Route 6.

Hollywood Casino Joliet owner Penn Entertainment and De Laurentiis are partners in the restaurant.

Sorellina by Giada will be located in the casino complex but off the casino floor, meaning it will be very accessible to non-gamblers and families, Warren said.

“It’s going to be situated near the events center, where families can come in and enjoy the restaurant,” he said.

De Laurentiis said the restaurant will be the first thing that many people see as they enter the future Hollywood Casino Joliet complex.

“It’s going to be very easy to find when you walk through the doors,” she said.

DeLaurentiis has been hands-on literally with the creation of the restaurant.

“I went to the property yesterday to see where we’re at,” she said.

Two weeks ago, De Laurentiis was in Joliet to see, touch and feel the materials that will be used for floors, tables, chairs and even the ceiling at Sorellina by Giada.

“We’re going to have a very unique ceiling that will allow sound to bounce off but will also have texture and design elements,” she said.

The restaurant will have “a light and casual feel,” she said.

“People can see dough being flipped and pizzas being made,” DeLaurentiis said. “It’s going to be very visual.”

Her signature lemon pizza will be served at the Joliet restaurant.

So will a variety of pizza and pasta dishes on a menu that DeLaurentiis said will have a California-style Italian flavor.

Penn Entertainment is building new casinos in Joliet and Aurora.

DeLaurentiis will have restaurants at both casinos.

The Aurora restaurant will be named Sorella by Giada. It will be more formal and include outdoor dining.

The Italian names for the restaurants translate to “sister” in Aurora and “little sister” in Joliet.

The arrival of De Laurentiis to Joliet adds credence to claims that Rock Run Collection will attract a unique blend of restaurants, retailers and other businesses to the site.

Other than the Hollywood Casino project, two warehouses have been built on the industrial end of the development. A 570-unit apartment complex is under construction, and Chipotle has obtained building permits to build there.

A Cullinan Properties representative on Wednesday said the De Laurentiis restaurant is a sample of things to come.

Sorellina by Giada “is a testament to the high-caliber dining and entertainment that will define this development,” Kathy Johns, vice president and director of marketing for Cullinan Properties, said in an email.

“These kinds of unique and exclusive experiences are just what everyone can look forward to at Rock Run Collection,” Johns said. “We have many exciting restaurants, retailers and entertainment users in the pipeline.”