November 21, 2012 – The company that runs Public House at State and Kinzie Streets in River North is still planning on opening in early February a 10,000 square foot Italian tavern less than three blocks away.

Dine|Amic Group, LLC, is advertising for managers, bartenders, servers, hosts, kitchen staff, and other positions at Siena Tavern, currently being built on the Kinzie Street side of 353 North Clark.

The company describes Siena Tavern as having a “polished, casual atmosphere” where “rustic meets modern.” The menu will include homemade pastas and Neapolitan pizzas baked in a wood stone pizza oven. Six distinct spaces will include at least two bars, a pizza bar, and a private dining room.

The project is a partnership between Lucas Stoioff and David Rekhson, owners of Dine|Amic, and Fabio Vivani (left), an Italian chef who has appeared on Bravo television network’s Top Chef, owns an Italian restaurant in southern California, and is a private chef for actor William Shatner.

Formerly known as Twilight Traffic Control, Dine|Amic Group also owns Bull & Bear on North Wells Street.

It will be the first restaurant to open at 353 North Clark, a 44-story, 1.2 million square foot office tower completed in 2009. Even before construction started, the building’s owner, Mesirow Financial, promised “two sophisticated, white tablecloth restaurants.” In June 2008, it was announced that The Oceanaire Seafood Restaurant, a chain based in Minneapolis, would open its first location in Illinois at 353 North Clark.

The restaurant, however, was never built. In 2010, desperate to pay off a construction loan, Mesirow Financial sold 353 North Clark to Tishman Speyer Properties L.P. for less than the $380 million it cost to build it.

(Above) How the building’s architects at Lohan Anderson visualize the Dearborn & Kinzie corner of 353 North Clark will look someday. “The northeast corner,” predicts the firm’s co-owner, Floyd Anderson, “will anchor 353 North Clark in the River North neighborhood. The multiple uses housed in this corner – office, restaurant, and health club – also reflect the philosophy behind the building, as it integrates work, life, and health, all in one.” Siena Tavern will be located in a ground floor space of 353 North Clark in an area seen in this illustration at the far right. (Click on image to view larger version.)