San Francisco–based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants recruited Ken Oringer, chef/owner of Clio, Uni, and Toro, as consulting chef at the Spire restaurant and bar space, recasting it as KO Prime, an updated steakhouse, to open this month. Chef de cuisine is Jamie Bissonette, late of Eastern Standard. • Joanne Chang, who recently cloned her popular Flour Bakery & Cafe at 12 Farnsworth St., will open a yet unnamed Asian eatery this summer with fiancé Christopher Myers (partner at Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay) at 1145 Washington St. Blu sous chef Michael Kraus now heads the kitchen. He replaced Tom Fosnot in March. • To raise money for their joint venture, The Village Table (going into the former Dedo space at 69 Church St. next fall), chef Barry Maiden (who last cooked at West Newton's Lumiere), Rachel Miller Munzer and Alon Munzer (owners of Boston's Rachel's Kitchen) and John Kessen (former manager of Sel de la Terre) are asking for $5 to $25 donations from anybody willing to help. In exchange, your name will be displayed permanently on a prominent wall and you'll get a discount on your first meal. "The response has been really positive. It has helped keep the project moving along," exults Maiden, although he won't spill how much they've raised so far. • 33 Restaurant & Lounge owners Greg Den Herder and Igor Blatnik, along with 33 gm Steven Careino, are morphing the adjacent Bomboa space, which they bought last summer and closed in March, into STIX this summer. "The concept and theme will be unveiled at the opening," promises Herder coyly. 33's exec chef Anthony Dawodu will also run STIX's kitchen.
Seismic changes at Varietal: Wayne Nish takes over as exec chef following the departure of Ed Witt, adding this second restaurant to his recent transformation of the fine dining March into the more casual Nish. Scott Riesenberger will serve as his chef de cuisine at Varietal while Nish will oversee pastry duties previously handled by Jordan Kahn, who left last month for the San Francisco Bay Area to develop his own restaurant. "Something different," says Kahn, 23, an applicable phrase for his techno-fantasy desserts. • Restaurant mogul Stephen Hanson, whose portfolio ranges from the high volume Ruby Foo's to the highly decorated Fiamma Osteria (both in NYC), inked a deal in February to sell his 17 restaurants (including a Primehouse opening in September at 381 Park Ave. S. and a Dos Cominos clone coming to Las Vegas in October) to Barry Sternlicht's Greenwich, CT–based Starwood Capital Group. Sternlicht transformed Hanson's management company, B.R. Guest into B.R. Guests LLC, which now owns and manages all Starwood dining venues. Hanson retains a 50 percent stake in the new entity, controls day-to-day operations of the restaurants, has a creative hand in developing new projects, and plans to acquire other restaurant groups. "Barry is a visionary genius, and I'm very happy to fill in where he needs me," Hanson notes. • Craving both pigs in a blanket and your 15 minutes of fame? Head to Spotlight Live, opened last month at 1604 Broadway (formerly Noche), which offers both comfort classics by chef/partner Kerry Simon (Kerry Kitchen and Bar in Las Vegas and Simon L.A.) and karaoke on steroids. Guests can primp in a Green Room before performing in front of the live audience backed by a professional band (while a JumboTron outside brings the show to the streets). Jennifer Worthington (film exec– turned–restaurateur who also owns Coyote Ugly in Las Vegas) is owner, and Elizabeth Blau (partner at both Kerry venues) and husband Kim Canteenwalla (partner at Kerry L.A.) are partners. • Laurent Gras, recently of Bistro du Vent, will open two venues for Chicago's Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises in the Windy City, one of which might go into the Ambria space, which will close this summer. • The Glazier Group closed Monkey Bar in March, but it will reopen this summer with a refreshed interior—don't worry, those mischievous monkeys are being assimilated into the new design—and a Pan-Asian menu created by exec chef/partner Patricia Yeo, who holds the same title at Sapa. • Last month Harry Poulakakos, son Peter Poulakakos, Michael Jewell, and Danny McDonald (the team behind Ulysses Folkhouse, Harry's Café, and Harry's Steak) launched Gold St., offering around-the-clock dining to financial district denizens. The two Harry's exec chef Patrick Vaccariello is doing triple duty, taking on this kitchen as well. • Ed McFarland, a veteran of Pearl Oyster Bar, took the ownership plunge in March with the launch of Ed's Lobster Bar (222 Lafayette St.). • Broadway East (171 E. Broadway), a vegetarian restaurant featuring a semi-hidden (read: hipster magnet) bar, opens this month. Chef Amanda Cohen was planted at such veggie temples as Pure Food & Wine and Heirloom; the owner is neighborhood developer/architect Ron Castellano. • Also new to the nabe at 21 Clinton St. is a sibling to Brooklyn's Cocoa Bar, which opened this spring. • Gordon Ramsay at The London's chef de cuisine Neil Ferguson has returned to London to work on other Ramsay projects. Josh Emett, a Ramsay vet who's been with the restaurant since its November opening, now claims the title. • Brian Young traveled from Mainland to Tavern on the Green. He replaced John Milto in March. • Changes abound at the Craft empire. Damon Wise, longtime Craft exec chef who recently revamped the Craftsteak menu, was promoted to exec chef of all Craft restaurants in March. Shane McBride, last seen cooking at the late 7Square, is now Craftsteak's chef de cuisine, replacing Christopher Albrecht. James Tracey, a Craft alum and recent exec chef at Mezze (Williamstown, MA), returns to the fold in April as Craft chef de cuisine. Finally, Matt Accarrino, Craftsteak sous chef, is heading west to assume the chef de cuisine post at the Craft opening in L.A. in July. • Ben Pollinger, a grad of Union Square Cafe and Tabla, is now at the helm at Oceana, replacing Cornelius Gallagher. Also new at Oceana is pastry chef Jansen Chan, who decamped from Alain Ducasse at the Essex House to take over duties from David Carmichael. For his part, Carmichael packed his whisk and moseyed over to Gilt to replace Nick Morgenstern. • In March, Richard Beis, formerly of David Burke & Donatella, started as pastry chef at Eleven Madison Park. • The Paris-based Fauchon shuttered its NYC location in February due to imminent demolition. Plans are underway to reopen, replete with a full-service cafe, nearby. • After pulling the plug on his New York spinoff of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, opened just last September, Tim Love swung into his saddle and headed home to Fort Worth, TX.
Kosher dining got a trendy incarnation with the March debut of the kabbalistic lifestyle lounge Café Emunah (3558 N. Ocean Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale). Along with the genesis salad and enlightened encrusted salmon cakes, be sure to order a "side" of table talk from co-owner Dr. Marla Reis, who holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Chabad rabbi Moshe Meir Lipszyc is co-owner, and Hodney Doliscar, who comes from 4140 Bar & Grill (Ft. Lauderdale), is exec chef. • Tapping into the trend of dressed down dining is Michael Schwartz, former chef/owner of South Beach's Nemo, who opened the unpretentious Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in March (130 N.E. 40th St., Miami). • Michael B. Jacobs, who made his name at Miami Beach's Tantra Restaurant & Lounge and owns MediterAsia Consulting (a catering company), is the exec chef at Miami's Grass Restaurant & Lounge (28 N.E. 40th St.). The organic heavy menu exhibits both Mediterranean and Asian inclinations. This summer, the property rolls out its supper club component, The King Is Dead, with a different menu and a live DJ spinning tunes. • Carnivores, rejoice! Grimpa Steakhouse, a high-end churrascaía from Brazil, opened its first U.S. location last month in downtown Miami at Mary Brickell Village retail center. • In March The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club (Aventura) nabbed Hubert Des Marais, who logged 17 image building years at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, as exec chef. His predecessor was Michael Dannecker. • Orlando's Rosen Centre Hotel recruited Michael Rumplik, who hails from Rainforest Café in Disney's Animal Kingdom (Orlando), to run all of the property's restaurants. His predecessor, Jorge Oliveira, is the new exec chef at Rosen Shingle Creek, also in Orlando. • Tim Keating, last seen at the Biltmore (Coral Gables), is now exec chef at Flying Fish Café in Disney's Boardwalk resort (Orlando). He steps in for Jens Dahlmann, who has moved to California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort.
In a bittersweet passing of the torch, John Besh, chef/co-owner of August, arranged to buy La Provence from his ailing mentor, Chris Kerageorgiou, a handshake transaction sadly hastened by Kerageorgiou's death on February 4 at the age of 79. Besh closed the restaurant for a gentle face-lift and reopened last month with a hearty menu honoring La Provence's founder's rustic French sensibility. "Working at La Provence made me understand what it is to be passionate about food," says Besh of the transition. "Chris was instrumental in making sure the soul of the place was always intact. To honor Chris and keep him close to us is our fundamental goal." Steven McHugh, recently chef de cuisine at August, leads the kitchen.
Michael Smith and Debbie Gold, cofounders of 40 Sardines, parted ways personally and professionally. Gold retains ownership of 40 Sardines. For his part, Smith took over the Zin space (1900 Main St.) and debuts it next month as an eponymous restaurant. "It will be upscale dining very similar to what I've always done," he says. Smith also nabbed the lease on a neighboring art gallery, to open in October as Extra Virgin, where his small plates menu will traverse the whole Mediterranean.
Bradford Thompson left Mary Elaine's at The Phoenician after 4 1/2 years as chef de cuisine and one James Beard Award as best chef in the Southwest (2006). Thompson plans to chill for a month before most likely returning to NYC, where he spent five years cooking at Daniel Boulud's various venues. No replacement has been named.
Laurent Manrique and partners at Aqua Development Corp. did not renew the lease at Pisces (Burlingame) in February and are looking for another location. In March Aqua launched Rouge et Blanc, a wine bar at 334 Grant Ave. (SF), next to Aqua's Café de la Presse. • SF's Medicine closed temporarily in February to reinvent itself as a dual concept. A streamlined eat-in/take-out lunch place, Medicine Eastation, reopened in March. In October look for a redesigned high-concept Japanese spot, Medicine-Ryori. Co-exec chefs Ryuta Sakamoto and Bryan Waites both remain on board. • Another reinvented SF Asian restaurant is Roe, reopened this month. The Dallas-based O'Brien & Associates swapped primary colors and leopard prints for a monochromatic palette and calmer vibe. Ame alum Thai Tran Ame is now chef, replacing Alvin San. • Armando Paniagua left Rose Pistola (SF) in March to relocate to Lawrence, KS, and open the Italian-themed restaurant Genovese. At press time Rose Pistola owner Laurie Thomas was conducting a national search for his replacement. • In March at Barcar (SF), Arnold Wong passed the toque to Robbie Lewis, recently Jardinière exec chef.
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