Chef John Caputo
BIN 36 Chicago
339 North Dearborn at Marina City
Chicago IL 60610
312.755.WINE (9463)

A MANO
335 North Dearborn
Chicago IL 60610
312.629.3500

When your grandfather is known as the "Mayor of Mott Street" because of his successful restaurants in New York's Little Italy, a career in foodservice seems like a given. But it took Brooklyn-raised John Caputo a little longer to follow his destiny. While enrolled in business courses, Caputo realized he wasn't meant for a career as an accountant. To find a direction, he made a list of all the things he loved to do. "Everything was around food," he says. "I immediately realized that food and wine were my passions." He changed course and began his formal hospitality education in 1976, enrolling in the University of Denver's Hotel and Restaurant Management program.

After finishing his degree, Caputo made his way to Vail, Colo., where he worked at the Westin Resort as the general manager of the hotel's upscale restaurant. "It was from this experience that I realized I would rather be in the kitchen than the front of the house. Management gave me the business angle to this industry, but I discovered I was more into the creative side. I've always felt most at home in the kitchen," explains Caputo.

With ties to the Westin establishment, Caputo moved out to Los Angeles and explored his creativity in the kitchen of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. After gaining more culinary experience, Caputo made his way up the Pacific coast to San Francisco and spent time at both Restaurant 101 and The Portman Hotel. Rising in the San Francisco restaurant scene, Caputo expanded his culinary acumen further while working as the Sous Chef under Chef Jan Birnbaum at Campton Place during the 1990s. Caputo then put his experience to work when he opened his own labor of love, the critically-acclaimed, 100-seat Socca Restaurant in San Francisco.

In addition to food, Caputo has always been enthralled with wine. His initial studies into the pairing of food and wine, so essential to the spirit behind BIN 36 and bin wine cafe, came while spending four years as the Executive Chef at the Jordan Winery in Sonoma Valley. With a dining room situated in a vineyard renowned for producing world-class wines, Caputo was able to explore the synergy between food and wine.

In his newest venture, A MANO, Caputo is returning to his roots. As Executive Chef and Partner in this authentic Italian trattoria, Caputo is excited to recreate the food of his youth – the food he remembers his grandparents, who came from Puglia, Italy, preparing when he was growing up. He is looking forward to bringing those culinary traditions to Chicago.