Deerfield’s Newest Restaurant Will Cater to Local Taste

An eclectic menu with fresh offerings tailored to the tastes of Deerfield is the goal of Bobby’s Deerfield, the Village’s newest restaurant opening in October in the location occupied by until Sunday.

“Fresh will be a big deal for everything we do,” co-owner Bobby Arifi said. “We have good food, good wine and good people. The food will be what the people in Deerfield like. The menu will be in evolution. If there’s something we see that people like we will add it.”

Operated by Arifi and brother, Augie Arifi, who now own Café Lucci in Glenview, the new establishment will have a few pasta dishes, a breadth of wine selections and a lot more, according to Bobby Arifi.

There will be a number of specials on the menu each night which is part of the plan to learn what people in Deerfield like and put it on the menu. If they are popular they could become permanent offerings.

“The specials will be part of my brother’s effort to show our breadth and his creations,” Bobby Arifi said. “We could have Chilean Sea Bass with white wine sauce and fresh asparagus.” If it is summer, the vegetables will be very fresh. “We’re working with a farm in Rockford and all the produce will be organic.”

While the produce will be fresh and local, the fish will be sustainable as well, according to Arifi. “If a fish is endangered we won’t buy it,” he said.

There will be plenty of wine to enjoy with the food. Arifi promises in the neighborhood of 150 selections including a wide array of wine by the glass.

“There will be 15 to 20 wines by the glass,” Arifi said. “We will have eight basic flavors. The others will be anything I find at the market that’s unique and special.”

The menu will include meat, chicken and pasta but there will be some more casual selections as well. Arifi promises he and his brother will not stray from the ingredients which have been working for them.

“We will have an Italian flavor but we’ll have a lot more,” Arifi said. “We don’t have a burger at Café Lucci. We will have a hamburger, chicken sandwich and skirt steak sandwich.”

Along with one of those sandwiches, there will be eight to 10 craft beers to go with it. “Four will be on tap and four to six by the bottle,” Arifi said.