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.
