We indeed drove to Rockford from Chicago to pick up our pre-ordered ciopette from Steve at Piemonte Bakery. You *must* pre-order the bread for pick it up on Saturdays only, before noon. Steve was great, very accomodating and gave us some great bread. However, when I delivered it to my Roseland-raised mother, she said it wasn't like the ciope she had when she was a kid. It was fine bread, but apparently not what she remembered. Dang! Here are pics of the Piemonte Bakery ciopette:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepblue...

Nope, I think it's different. My Italian uncle clearly pronounces it 'cho-pee'.

I'm in search of a type of Italian bread my family once was able to purchase from local bakeris a few decades back on the south side/Roseland neighborhood.

Ciopa
Description: A type of crusty, thick bread from the Veneto.
Pronounced: CHYOH-pah (also 'cho-pee')
Language: Italian

The finished product has four or six tips or knobs. Somewhat similar to challah bread but smaller and less uniform - more bumpy/pointy. Anyone ever heard of this or know of any bakeries still making this today?