Andre Guerrero (Oinkster), who left BoHo not terribly long ago, has been busy scouting out new projects. Not only is he working on a second Oinkster downtown, but now comes news that the chef will soon be opening an Italian restaurant. Maximiliano's will open in Highland Park at 5930 York Boulevard, the former home of La Casa Blue (and before that Juanita's), possibly as soon as three months from now.

Named for the chef's son Max (Guerrero likes to name his restaurants after his sons, Max and Fred, including the late, lamented

Marché, which was previously called Max), Guerrero's latest project will be what he described to us as “old school Italian.” Look for handmade pastas, gnocchi, pizza, cannoli, and spumoni made with a PacoJet and served in paper cups. Desserts will be courtesy of Jan Purdy, Guerrero's longtime pastry chef. And despite the “old school” thing, the chefs will not only be playing with a PacoJet, but sous-viding too. Guerrero says there will be wine and beer (only Craftsman on draft), and Intelligentsia coffee courtesy of a fancy Synesso machine. Three months? Three months, says Guerrero, as “it was orginally a restaurant, so there's a lot of things we don't need to do.” Guerrero is taking over the entire building, so check back for updates.

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