Mike Cisternino
Executive Chef

Michael Cisternino hasn’t always known he’s wanted to be a chef, but his familiarity with kitchens goes back to his childhood. Starting at age six, Cisternino would often find himself side-by-side with his southern Italian father and grandmother preparing traditional dishes for the their family gatherings. “I was always cooking as a kid, but I never thought about doing it as a job until I got older,” says Cisternino, 29.

After spending a few years at Ohio State University studying psychology, however, the Chicago-native decided to return to his roots and began pursuing a formal education in the culinary arts at Chicago’s Kendall College. Now, as Chef de Cuisine at Tavern at the Park, Cisternino is combining his culinary expertise with his passion for creating memorable meals. “I want to give diners at Tavern those great memories that I’ve always had of food,” he says.

While working toward his Associate of Culinary Arts degree, Cisternino worked for one year with three locations of Chicago’s Rosebud Restaurants, learning a variety of skills. After graduation from Kendall, he headed to the South Loop’s Gioco, starting off in Garde Manger and, after two years, working his way up to Sous Chef. It was here that Cisternino polished his pasta making and learned the secrets to creating perfectly prepared meats and fish on a wood-burning grill and oven. But in order to truly understand Italian cooking, Cisternino pursued his passion to the source, spending six months working in restaurants in Northern Italy. It was here that he discovered ingredients at their peak of their freshness. He recalls during his first week being asked to get some tomatoes, and after discovering none in the walk-in, was pleasantly surprised to learn that the tomatoes to be used were actually growing next to the restaurant. With the skills and knowledge he acquired in Italy, Cisternino returned to Rosebud Restaurants, first as Executive Sous Chef at Carmine’s and then, for three years, as Executive Chef at Rosebud of Highland Park.

At Tavern at the Park, Cisternino has worked with John Hogan of the award-winning Keefer’s restaurant to create a menu that appeals to a variety of tastes. “We took comfort food dishes and put a creative spin on them,” explains Cisternino. “Anybody who walks in the door will find something they like, whether it’s a hamburger, prime rib sandwich or a great Asian-style salad.”

But while the cuisine at Tavern has a broad range of appeal, all of the dishes adhere to Cisternino’s belief in using products of the highest quality, prepared simply. “When you start adding ingredients and trying to do too much, you’re actually taking away from the food rather than adding to it,” he says. “My philosophy is to use the best things you can find and do them as well as you can.”