Same Place, Next Year

Gilt by Association
Brendan Sodikoff, who has worked with Alain Ducasse and Thomas Keller—and currently with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises—plans to open a restaurant called Gilt Bar in the old...

Posted Oct. 28, 2009, at 5:20 p.m.

Project Gemini

Pollack’s Quick Hit
Jason Paskewitz’s latest home, Gemini Bistro (2075 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-525-2522), is a comfortably sleek corner spot with lots of dark wood to make it feel intimate and Edison bulbs so you know it’s hip. And Paskewitz (621 Diner, Wave, JP Chicago) is right in...

Posted Oct. 21, 2009, at 5:19 p.m.

Size Matters

Epic Proportions
Stephen Wambach, the former corporate chef for Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Restaurant Group in New York, plans to open the locally minded Epic (112 W. Hubbard St.; 312-222-4940) toward the end of November in River North. (His bosses, two Chicago businessmen, wish to remain anonymous—but we know his pastry chef will be...

Posted Oct. 14, 2009, at 5:08 p.m.

Divided They Stand

Clearing Customs
Big shakeup at Custom House (500 S. Dearborn St.; 312-523-0200): Shawn McClain, the original exec chef/partner/driving force, is on his way out at the South Loop standout. While still a part owner, McClain and his long-time partners at Custom House, Green Zebra, and Spring, Sue and Peter Drohomyrecky, are trying to figure out how to divide...

Posted Oct. 7, 2009, at 5:56 p.m.

Dish Flash

A New Table
Giuseppe Scurato, a top-flight chef who made his bones at Boka, Landmark, and, most recently, Topaz Cafe, has been looking for his own place for a while now. He finally found it today in Uptown’s former Monticchio space (4882 N. Clark St.), where he plans to...

Posted Oct. 2, 2009, at 4:19 p.m.

Coming Soon To Your Neighborhood?

The Fifth Element

The team behind Volo, Paramount Room and two Kitsch’ns plans to open a new concept in mid-October. “It’s our fifth spot, and we are calling it The Fifth,” says Jon Young of the 75-seat restaurant in an undisclosed location. (All Dish knows is...

Posted Sept. 30, 2009, at 5:09 p.m.

The Sun Also Rises

Two Floors of Japan

After a year of business, Farmerie 58 (58 E. Ontario St.), a massive Gold Coast space with an identity crisis (farm-oriented bistro? Raw bar? Pub?), has closed. The current plan calls for the ground level to reopen later this fall as a sushi bar with Ming San (formerly of Rise) as the sushi chef. If all goes as expected, the upstairs will eventually unveil as a

Posted Sept. 23, 2009, at 5:57 p.m.

Guac, Stock, and Barrel

Quick Hit
We’ve heard the buzz on Chilam Balam (3023 North Broadway; 773-296-6901), a new cash-only Mexican BYO run by Chuy Valencia, an alum of Frontera Grill, but Pollack was skeptical. Especially when the halibut seviche ($9.25) and guacamole and chips ($7.25)—both recommended by the gregarious waiter—arrived in a flash and looked small, especially the guac, even by small-plate standards. Pollack’s upsell alert bell went off, but both were...

Posted Sept. 16, 2009, at 5:11 p.m.

This Old Pontiac Is No Clunker

Neapolitics in Downers Grove
Parkers’ Restaurant & Bar  (1000 31st St., Downers Grove; 630-960-5700), a new farm-friendly American revamp of Parkers’ Ocean Grill, also happens to serve Neapolitan pizza so serious that it received Naples’ treasured VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certification. “We had a wood-burning oven since we opened as Parkers’, but we didn’t really utilize it...

Posted Sept. 2, 2009, at 6:20 p.m.

Prairie Tales

From Powerhouse to Prairie
It’s been a good month for Prairie Grass Cafe (601 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook; 847-205-4433). On the heels of its burger being anointed Chicago’s best, now PGC has announced it will spawn Prairie Fire, another all-American outpost in the old Powerhouse space in the West Loop (215 N. Clinton St.) “We’re going to do some of our signature stuff like...

Posted Aug. 26, 2009, at 5:47 p.m.