Grabowski’s Pizzeria in the River North Art District and Rocca’s Pizza & Pasta in Lakewood closed within 10 days of each other this year, and Grabowski’s owner Jared Leonard wasn’t looking for a new space to reopen his tavern-style pizza joint right away.
But when Alex Seidel, the well-regarded chef behind Rocca’s, Mercantile, Fruition and Chook, asked him about taking over the building at 13795 W. Jewell Ave., he couldn’t say no.