Curtains for Jean Georges. D’Amico Details in Three Weeks!
Part of me feels sad because I know that a lot of people are having a very bad morning. All the staff at the Chambers restaurant, heretofore headed by Jean Georges Vongerichten, are being told their restaurant will close, to be replaced in the near term by the D’Amico Cucina team. Part of me, however, feels happy because I was right!
Details are sketchy, but so far I’ve heard that D’Amico will be taking over Chambers’s food service July 20. At that point, there will be some physical modifications to the existing restaurant space (my suggestion: Sound baffling! Hire a sound engineer first! That basement space is doomed without one.). Three weeks time will also give us the final restaurant name, chef (I’m guessing Jay Sparks and John Occhiato, the former D’Amico team, but you never know) sample menus, and so on. Stay tuned, restaurant hounds!
Note to Jean Georges: I told you so! My first review of your restaurant noted you can’t bring your B game to Minneapolis and succeed. We are not the hayseeds one might assume. Note to people of Minneapolis: Thanks for proving me right on that. Keep eating with your palates, not with your status antennae.
Also: It’s on! This fall, the battle to watch will be the New D’Amico Cucina (Name TBD) vs. Sea Change, the sustainable seafood restaurant being helmed by Tim McKee, the chef who made his name winning a spot in Food & Wine magazine’s roster of the 10 Best New Chefs in America back in 1997, when he was then the chef of, you guessed it, D’Amico Cucina.
I’ll post more in the comments when I get it… For now, here's the official press release.
Posted on Monday, June 29, 2009 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
Too bad that some decent people are out of a job, but they were probably expecting it. How long did Chambers live? I've already expressed my complete disappointment for Chambers Kitchen in general (B game is putting it mildly), and for that basement space in particular (hate hate hated it). I can't think of too many sub-ground-level restaurants in the Twin Cities that work. Actually, all I can think of are the bland steakhouses Mortons and Rossi's, neither of which I've been to twice. Maybe D'Amico's can find a way to make this work, but I still think partnering in a hipster/luxo hotel space is a mistake because it signals that their target audience is the same crowd looking for a scene. I'll give it a try though, and hope the food and service will trump the location. I guess I'd put my betting money on Sea Change. And I'll put my eating money on Sea Salt.
On the plus side, maybe that awful Damien Hirst art will get packed away. I never could understand how people talked themselves into tolerating eating quality food while looking at replica art of narcotic pain labels. Or eating bread from a gauzy bandage-looking basket. Too weird for this hayseed.
Meatfest update : I put in my first order from pastures a plenty and will pick it up this week. Looking forward to it.
TBD