Braiding together two strands of Chicago’s French dining scene, chef Martial Noguier will join Stephan Outrequin and Nicole Quaisser as partners in the LM Restaurant Group, parent to LM Bistro (111 W. Huron St., 312-202-9900), Troquet French Bar (1834 W. Montrose Ave., 773-334-5664), and Brasserie by LM (800 S. Michigan Ave., 312-431-1788).

Noguier will oversee all three LM restaurants, with an eye toward opening more. Each LM restaurant will have a chef de cuisine. “I was already in this situation when I was working for Cornerstone [Restaurant Group],” Noguier says. As Cornerstone’s corporate chef, Noguier served as executive chef at One Sixtyblue and opened Wave and the Michael Jordan’s Steak House in Washington, D.C. He was attracted to the similar supervisory job, but as a co-owner instead of employee. “I did it for somebody, now I would like to do it for myself,” he says.

On only the first official day of the partnership, Noguier couldn’t offer specifics about what will change, except to say that Troquet will grow more sophisticated, in line with the unaffiliated Le Troquet in Paris. “I think you will see the Martial touch in January,” he says. Sounds like LM is coming under Martial law.