TOC’s Heather Shouse reports that Terrance Brennan, proprietor of New York’s Artisanal bistro/cheese temple/pungent-smelling room, is officially shelving his planned Chicago outpost.
This is disappointing on many levels. There’s the “Argh, the freaking economy” level — Team Brennan’s reluctance to invest in Chicago is yet another spotlight shining on the fact that the R-word is real and true.
There’s the “Aw, we really liked Terrance” level — he’s put real effort into trying to get Chicago to like him, putting in an appearance at Chicago Gourmet and generally being a press-friendly guy.
And finally, there is the “Crapola, people, New York’s Artisanal has some extremely kickass steak-tips-and-cheese fondue, and insanely addictive gruyere gougères, and now it’s not going to be here” level. Which is, of course, the most important one.
Of course, you can still get your fondue fix at Melting Pot or Geja’s Cafe, and you can find the recipe for Brennan’s gougères online (on our parent company’s website, no less!). So maybe we can make do. For now.
Terrance Brennan kills his 900 N Michigan project [TOC Blog]
Cheese Gougères [NYMag]
Artisanal [MenuPages]
Artisanal [Official Site]
Geja’s Cafe [MenuPages]
Geja’s Cafe [Official Site]
Melting Pot [MenuPages]
Melting Pot [Official Site]
[Photo: Kielbasa for fondue at NYC’s Artisanal, via wwny’s Flickr]
