VALPARAISO | Fontella Duron nearly lost heart in the restaurant business after closing her Cafe Paradiso in the city's downtown last year.

Finding herself drawn back in, she decided to give business another try -- and name the restaurant for her renewed spirit.

"I got my za za zing back," said Duron, who with partner and head chef Saverio Castellucci opened Zaza's on Tuesday.

The restaurant serves up authentic northern Italian cuisine in a dining space meant to make customers feel they're in an Italian kitchen, Duron said.

"All our sauces are homemade. All our products we buy in Chicago from Italian grocers," she said.

Zaza's opened next door to what is planned as an upscale night club and cigar room, all in the Chandana retail center on the city's northeast side.

Chris Romano said he and partner Art Georgian plan to open Novo in early March with a nearly 5,000-square-foot dance floor and separate rooms for club members and VIPs.

The former Bin Willy's is being dismantled to make way for the night spot.

"We're taking out the sports bar element," Romano said. Dartboards will be gone and plasma TVs will be relocated within the club.

"It will be strictly a nightclub with a high-end membership room and a high-end VIP room," Romano said.

Earth tones and brick walls are planned, and a floor-to-ceiling granite fireplace will make a backdrop for cigars and cognac in the VIP room.

Veterans of the night club business, both as owners and employees, the partners had scouted the region for a site, Romano said.

"This is a golden opportunity," he said of the location, at Calumet Avenue and Bullseye Lake Road.

Romano called on his past as an English major to come up with the name Novo.

"It means new," he said. In keeping with the name, the partners plan to keep introducing new ideas.

"Every three months we'll do something different," Romano said.