a boutique pizza bar in arlington heights

Chef Gary Baca brings over 25 years of experience in the restaurant business to Bar Salotto.

Baca realized his passion for cooking at a young age by spending time with his grandmothers, one who cooked the same meals with complete precision, the other feeding 26 grandchildren with what seemed like nothing in the refrigerator. Gary began his restaurant career as the corporate sous chef for Milano's Italian Kitchen of California. While performing his duties as executive chef at Scoozi!, Baca simultaneously worked with LEYE consulting with such restaurants as Cajun Kitchen, McDonald's, and the Compass Group as well as assisting with several LEYE restaurant openings. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the Santa Barbara City Culinary College in December 1987.

As a California native, Baca now enjoys all of the diversity in restaurants and Midwestern hospitality that Chicago has to offer. Gary prides himself on using rustic, simple, and specially or locally sourced ingredients that allow him to cook dishes that maintain the integrity of their ethnic origin.