Okay, so we all knew that. But he’ll always be a part of Chicago that just happens to live in New York and ignores us, like Bill Murray. Gael Greene reports— well, “reports” might be a little too strong a word for what is, at best, a fairly solid rumor— that Gras is looking to open a 14-seat restaurant (a curiously specific number for a concept not yet tied to any space) where, for an undoubtedly exorbitant price, you would get many courses prepared in front of you personally by Gras. Curiously, Greene says that Gras is long wanted to do “something casual and fun,” like Joel Robuchon’s Atelier Robuchon, and to work in “an intimate setting surrounded by clients.” This is curious because that’s pretty much exactly the opposite of anything about L2O, where Gras’s food was the epitome of serious and fussy, and where Gras himself was notorious for resisting the chefly schmoozing and roomworking that high-end diners increasingly feel entitled to as part of their experience. [Insatiable Critic]
