Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman (Cookshop and Five Points) shuttered Provence and retooled it as the sustainably inclined Hundred Acres last month. Expect rustic farmhouse fantasy fare that's easy on the wallet. Cookshop chef de cuisine Joel Hough joins Meyer in the Hundred Acres kitchen. • Toronto chef Susur Lee is hatching a yet-to-be-named restaurant in the spirit of his Toronto spots, the fine dining Susur (which he shuttered last month) and Lee, in the Thompson Lower East Side, a new property by Thompson Hotel Group, opening later this summer. Lee will transform the Susur space into a yet-to-be-named concept with Susur sous chef Dominic Amaral leading the kitchen. Jason Carter, head chef at Lee, will help with the opening of the NYC restaurant. • When Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium New York opens in 2009, it will house an off-shoot of Quattro Gastronomia Italiana, the stylish Miami Beach eatery by identical twin chefs Nicola and Fabrizio Carro. • Rouge Tomate, a Euro take on healthy dining in Brussels, is coming to NYC next fall at 10 E. 60th St. Assuming the exec chef position is Jeremy Bearman, who has cooked at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Las Vegas), and LarkCreekSteak (San Francisco). • Jerry Joseph, who shuttered SoHo landmark Jerry's last year, opened YourAsian (90 Chambers St.) in April, which switches from quick service by day to full service at night. "The idea is to create what you'd like as your version of Asian—for instance, Thai green curry with Indonesian rice," explains Joseph of the mix-and-match menu. Exec chef Ten Vong's serious kitchen creds include stints at Yumcha and Mercer Kitchen in NYC. • In April, Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar settled her lawsuit against former sous chef Edward McFarland of Ed's Lobster Bar for copying her menu and concept. Details are under wraps, but since the settlement we read that McFarland changed visual elements of his place and modified the menu. • Opened just in March, the kitschy The Rusty Knot (425 West St.) is already drawing crowds for its tiki cocktails and irresistible retro-eats like pigs in a blanket. Owners are hipster dreamteam Ken Friedman (co-owner of The Spotted Pig), Taavo Somer (co-owner of Freemans), and chef/partner Joaquin Baca (also chef/co-owner of the Momofuku trinity). • At press time we heard that Tony May and daughter Marisa May were pulling the plug on San Domenico this month, but are planning to relocate. • Exec pastry chef Karen DeMasco left Craft last month to work on a cookbook. Stay tuned for her replacement. • As of April, Richard Farnabe, formerly of Prime Restaurant (Huntington, NY), is chef de cuisine at Picholine, stepping in for Scott Quis. • Geoffrey Zakarian recruited Willis Loughhead from The Modern as exec chef at Country. He replaces Doug Psaltis.
Speaking of Mina, later this summer he'll take a crack at cocktails with Clock Bar, located in the lobby of the Westin St. Francis hotel (home to his four-star signature restaurant). • Also in the works for Mina in San Francisco is rn74, a close collaboration with Mina Group wine director Rajat Parr. The restaurant/wine bar will be housed in the Millennium Tower (301 Mission St.), which is under construction and slated to open in 2009. It's named after a road that passes through France's Burgundy region, so look forward to French inspired fare and a wine list that leans toward Burgundies. • New this month is Gitane (6 Claude Lane) with a funky eclectic interior and bold menu that travels freely between Spain, France, and North Africa. Exec chef Lisa Eyherabide decamps from San Francisco's Le Charm French Bistro and Piperade. Gitane is owned by Franck LeClerc, also owner of Café Claude across the way. • In March, Jocelyn Bulow and Marc Sempere of the Maktub Group, which owns Chez Maman, Couleur Cafe, and Chez Papa Bistrot, expanded their Francocentric fiefdom to include Chez Papa Resto at 414 Jessie St. Exec chef David Bazirgan has worked extensively for Maktub. • At his new artisan pizza place Beretta (which opened in April at 1199 Valencia St.), chef/owner Ruggero Gadaldi (who also owns Antica Trattoria and Pesce) opted to fuel the stone oven with clean burning gas instead of wood. Partner Deborah Blum has worked the front of the house at San Francisco's top restaurants (Incanto, Quince, Delfina Restaurant, and Gary Danko) and will do the same at Beretta. Adriano Paganini, owner of the Pasta Pomodoro chain, is also partner. • San Francisco's Sens Restaurant promoted Kelley Fields to exec pastry chef, taking over for Shuna Lydon.
The newest creation of the Denver-based Sage Restaurant Group (which operates The Corner Office in Denver and Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago) is Second Home Kitchen and Bar, a cozy marriage of modern home cooking and stylish good looks, replacing Mirepoix in Denver's JW Marriott at Cherry Creek. The hotel's longtime exec chef Che Frey is running the show. Also down the pike for Sage is Nines Hotel, opening in Portland, OR, in September. • Deluxe (Denver) chef/owner Dylan Moore nabbed the space next door for Delite (32. S. Broadway), which opened last month. "The focus is international small plates. You might find a pizza next to a Thai beef salad," says Moore, who is exec chef at both venues (which share the same kitchen). • Last month pastry chef Keegan Gerhard (host of Food Network Challenge) and wife/pastry chef Lisa Bailey (formerly of Corsa Cucina in Las Vegas) opened D Bar Desserts, a pastry shop/coffee bar by day and sit-down dessert and wine bar by night, at 1475 E. 17th Ave. (Denver). • The Lodge & Spa at Cordillera (Edwards) has a new exec chef, Paul Rogers, recently of Terra Bistro (Vail). He replaces Rahm Fama, who mosied over to The Lodge at Vail, A RockResort.
Scottsdale's The Phoenician is getting a $70 million transformation, sprucing up the entire property in a contemporary vein and repackaging many of its dining venues. Mary Elaine's closed for good in April and will reopen in October as J & G Steakhouse, serving designer steaks as conceived by culinary trendmeister Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The Terrace was translated into Italian last month as Il Terrazzo and a casual analog Luce di Terrazzo. • In February London's buzz-generating celeb hangout Koka opened an American spin-off in Scottsdale, Roka Akor (7299 N. Scottsdale Rd.). Exec chef Bjoern Weissgerber is an émigré from London's Zuma. With other locations in Macau and Hong Kong (also opening this month), this is the fourth Roka. • InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa (Paradise Valley) will open in August with Francesco Roccato, recently of InterContinental Cleveland, as exec chef.
Bad boy Gordon Ramsay descends on the City of Angels with the opening of Gordon Ramsay at The London West Hollywood this month in The London West Hollywood hotel (formerly the Bel Age), part of the LXR Luxury Resorts collection. Consider this a sister restaurant, fine-tuned for the L.A. market, to Ramsay's two Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay at The London in NYC. Exec chef of the NYC venture Josh Emett works closely with chef de cuisine Andy Cook, a longtime Ramsay vet, to oversee the menus in L.A. while running the NYC kitchen. • SBE (which owns and operates Katsuya in Hollywood, Brentwood, and Glendale) has partnered with A-lister Michael Mina to open XIV next fall on the Sunset Strip. SBE partner Philippe Starck envisions the space as a modern contemporary take on a 17th century European château. This marks Mina's return to L.A. after a 20 year absence. He began his career at the Hotel Bel Air. • Last month Errol and Kimberly Roussel and Dave Dickerson, who together own Cinespace, opened Kitchen 24 at 1608 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. Exec chef David Rosenberger (late of the Foundation Room Lounge) is serving comfort food around the clock. • In a similar vein, The Waffle (6255 W. Sunset Blvd.), a glammed-up all-American coffee shop owned by casting director John Papsidera and film producer Gavin Polone, is open 22 hours a day. Exec chef Scooter Kanfer-Cartmill cooked recently at Naya Restaurant Moderne. • Joachim Splichal promoted Kevin Meehan, Patina chef de cuisine since 2005, to exec chef at newish high-end seafood eatery Paperfish in Beverly Hills. Meehan replaces opening chef Yianni Koufodontis. • Rising through the ranks of the L.A.–based Kor Hotel Group is Scott Garret, who in February was promoted from exec sous chef at Whist in the Viceroy Santa Monica to exec chef at Hotel Avalon's Blue on Blue in Beverly Hills, replacing Gabriel Gabreski. • Tony Trujillo, who worked the stoves at The Loft and Studio, is now exec sous chef at Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern (Dana Point).
In the spring Georges Perrier sent shock waves through Philly when he surrendered his Mobile five-star award and refashioned Le Bec-Fin, a regional standard-bearer for fine dining, as a casual venue. "Sending back the stars was a very hard decision, the hardest decision of my life," reflects Perrier. "But I didn't want the pressure that came with the stars. I want to relax and enjoy life." The elegant interior remains intact, but the menu (and price point) have been reeled in. "The menu is à la carte now, which is better for me because I can play more with dishes." Tabletop is also simplified. "We still have tablecloths, but instead of people being confused by the silverware, there are now just a fork and a knife." • Opened in March is Pearl (1904 Chestnut St.), a twofer with a chic dining room serving upscale Asian fare on the first floor and an übercool lounge upstairs. Exec chef Ari Weis wasser decamps from NYC, where he worked at Daniel, Gilt, and Picholine. Philly-based DAS Architects reference pearls throughout the restaurant's opulent clean design.
This month in Portland, OR, chef Micah Camden (owner of Yakuza and Beast) opened D.O.C. (5419 N.E. 30th Ave.), an Italianate jewel box offering a mere 24 lucky guests (who have to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room) a prix-fixe menu. Exec chef is Greg Perrault, whose bi coastal résumé includes stints at Martini House (St. Helena, CA) and Tasting Room (NYC). Beast chef Naomi Pomeroy is consultant. • Lauren Fortgang packed up her whisks and relocated from NYC (where she cut her teeth at Craft and Hearth) to Portland to makes sweets at Paley's Place. She replaces Wednesday Wild-Wilson, who left to raise her family. • Matthew Brandsey is at the helm at Sea Grill (Tacoma, WA), replacing Travis Nash. Brandsey is an alum of Cruise West (specializing in small ship cruises) and has opened five restaurants as exec chef in Chicago and Washington State.
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