Chicago has plenty of Italian restaurants, but Bill Varley feels his new offering, Torchio Pasta Bar, will find a niche in River North. Varley and his crews have gutted the former Karyn’s Cooked, 738 N. Wells Street, to make room for their new endeavor. Varley’s a first-time restaurant owner who retired from his life as an engineer and executive last week.

The restaurant’s slated for a mid-May opening. Varley’s not the first engineer to enter the restaurant world. Robert Garvey took the same path with Robert’s Pizza Co. in Streeterville. For Varley, he’s held on to the dream of opening a restaurant for nearly a decade but just was waiting for his professional life to settle down.