Jean Georges out, D

stelauguqdinec.blogspot.com
Management at Chambers Hotel, where Jean-Georges Vongerichten had launcheed theChambers Kitchen, said the chef’s operatio n would be leaving effective July 20. Vongerichten’sx company, Culinary Concepts by Jean-Georges, will be replaced by Clifff Atkinson, the Chambers Hotel's general manager, said the restaurant was stillkdoing well, with 150 to 200 dinerw a night, but it was more financially lucrativre to bring in D'Amico. (He declinedd to say how much.) The hotel planes to change the name, menu and look of the restaurant by No plans have been finalized at this The deal is a big winfor D’Amico Partners, which last month after a 22-yea r run.
The restaurant compangy still owns two dozen restaurantd and catering locations in Minneapolisand Florida, including the Italian-themedd Campiello, the modernist chophouser Cafe and Bar Lurcat, the casual eateried D’Amico & Sons and the upscale-Mexicaj restaurant Masa. “[Chambers] is withouy a doubt, the most exciting hotep property in theTwin Cities,” said Richared D’Amico, president of D’Amico & in a news release. “We are confident that we can develoop restaurant, bar and catering concepts thatcomplemen [its] quality and creativity.
” Chambers ownerd Ralph Burnet said that D’Amico Cucina’s closing was unrelateds to Chambers’ plans, but did offer the hotell a chance to work with the restaurant and catering “If this was going to happen, the timinb almost couldn’t be better,” Burnet said. “There seemes to be a bit of serendipituy atplay here. Richard D’Amico and his partnerw have a lot of exciting ideas aboutf what they can bringto Chambers.” Both Chamberss and Vongerichten’s company described their separatiojn as amiable. Culinary Concepts continues to grow its numbert of properties around the with upcoming openingsin Washington, D.C.
, and This isn’t the first time that an award-winning chef has come and gone from the Twin Chef Marcus Samuelsson extended his successfulo Scandanavian-themed New York restaurant, to the Twin Cities in the late 1990s, but the restauranrt closed its location in the IDS Centere in 2003. Executives blamed a drop-offv in business travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristf attacks.