12 replies to this topic

[jesteinf]

The Chicago Michelin stars were announced yesterday.  Here are the winners:

***
Alinea
L20

**
Avenues
Charlie Trotter's
Ria

*
Blackbird
Boka
Bonsoirée
Crofton on Wells
Everest
graham elliot
Longman & Eagle
NAHA
NoMI
Schwa
Seasons
Sepia
Sixteen
Spiaggia
Takashi
Topolobampo
Tru
Vie

[Eddie L]

I knew that the results were released when I saw this post from Grant Achatz:

Not going to lie... We have ripped through some 1985 Krug today...

[Eddie L]

And what's up with L2O? Is Gras really gone? I wonder how the Michelin inspectors feel about that...

First Chicago Michelin guide stars 23 eateries

Michelin worldwide director Jean-Luc Naret said he managed to reach L2O's apparently now-former chef Laurent Gras -- who left the restaurant mysteriously early this month -- by phone Tuesday to give him the good news. But Rich Melman -- whose Lettuce Entertain You chain owns L20, at 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, and also Michelin one-star winners Everest and Tru -- couldn't.

"I called Laurent about an hour and a half ago and left a message," said Melman.

He said Gras told him about three months ago he wanted out for personal reasons and that he told Gras to take some time and think through things.

[prasantrin]

The article I read said Gras was taking an indefinite leave of absence. They don't know if he'll be back, but hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. He's been gone for a while already, and it seems the restaurant is in good hands.

While Gras is away, his kitchen duties will be covered by a number of chefs. One of them is Francis Brennan, who has been Gras’s chef de cuisine at L2O for some time. Another is Doug Psaltis, the chef formerly at New York’s Country, who has been working in the Lettuce Lab on Paris Club. A third chef, Jeff Mahin, will also help cover for Gras. Mahin, who is a mere 27 years old, “is going to be a superstar,” Melman says. He has a “wonderful way with sushi.”

Read more: http://www3.timeoutn.../#ixzz15ZATK7tz

[Ron Johnson]

The Schwa gang has to be pumped as well. One Michelin star for a joint that has no bar, no hostess, no wine, no wait staff, no reservation system? kudos to them.

[Daisy]

The article I read said Gras was taking an indefinite leave of absence. They don't know if he'll be back, but hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. He's been gone for a while already, and it seems the restaurant is in good hands.

While Gras is away, his kitchen duties will be covered by a number of chefs. One of them is Francis Brennan, who has been Gras’s chef de cuisine at L2O for some time. Another is Doug Psaltis, the chef formerly at New York’s Country, who has been working in the Lettuce Lab on Paris Club. A third chef, Jeff Mahin, will also help cover for Gras. Mahin, who is a mere 27 years old, “is going to be a superstar,” Melman says. He has a “wonderful way with sushi.”

Read more: http://www3.timeoutn.../#ixzz15ZATK7tz

Gras is moving back to NYC. And has something in the works here. Just broken by F&W, picked up by Eater.

Lucky us.

[Sneakeater]

I'll bet the slider joint he's going to open will be fantastic.

[Sneakeater]

I have nothing but love for the guy as a guy, but 25 years ago, if you had told me that Michelin was going to give stars in America, and that a Rich Melman restaurant would be one of the three-stars, I am positive I would not have believed you.

[Adrian]

I'll bet the slider joint he's going to open will be fantastic.

How right you are: http://dinersjournal...-a-casual-turn/
Can we start betting odds? Sliders? Fried chicken? Tacos?

[Orik]

I have reasons to imagine he's already found the space and that it's not going to be anything to get very excited about.

[mitchells]

How about BLG Tacos?

[Ron Johnson]

The Schwa gang has to be pumped as well. One Michelin star for a joint that has no bar, no hostess, no wine, no wait staff, no reservation system? kudos to them.

oh yeah . . . and no bread.

[prasantrin]

Two-Michelin starred Charlie Trotter's will be closing in August

http://dinersjournal...ing-in-chicago/

Mr. Trotter told The Sun-Times that the restaurant was not closing for financial reasons. A take-out restaurant, Trotter’s To Go, will remain open, he said, and he plans to start another restaurant after what he described as his sabbatical.

He told the newspaper that he had been accepted to graduate programs at schools in Chicago and California to study philosophy and political theory.

“I just had to put the flag in the sand and say I’ve got to go for this,” he told the newspaper.