Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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SO MANY DINNERS (SO LITTLE TIME) Bryce Caron, pastry chef; Graham Elliot; Andrew Brochu, executive chef. Graham Elliot's eponymous restaurant at 217 West Huron Street. graham elliot 4.0 CAN A NEW CHEF AND A NEW DIRECTION CEMENT GRAHAM ELLIOT'S STATUS AS ONE OF CHICAGO'S BEST RESTAURANTS? BY ARI BENDERSKY W hen Michelin has given you a star two years running and you've gotten critical praise for your other successive projects, how do you keep your namesake restaurant relevant and, more impor- tantly, make it one of the best restaurants in Chicago? If you're smart, you bring in some new talent to turn up the heat. That's exactly what Graham Elliot did earlier this year when he snagged rising-star chef Andrew Brochu (Alinea, Kith & Kin) and then Bryce Caron, a 2012 Food & Wine best new pastry chef for his work at Blackbird, to head up the kitchen at his River North spot. Elliot, who also owns Grahamwich and the newly opened West Loop hot spot g.e.b., took things up another notch by hiring former Avenues sommelier Jamie Kluz to round out the chefs' tasting menus with spot-on wine pairings. All of this has people talking—in a good way, which hasn't always been the case with Elliot. The chef has a reputation for making his 70 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM The restaurant buzzes with a stylish North River crowd. feelings known: He took Chicago magazine editor Cassie Walker Burke to task on Twitter after she criticized his food at a media preview for Lollapalooza in 2010, and he instructed his staff to refuse service to ABC-7 Hungry Hound Steve Dolinsky at g.e.b. this summer in response to Dolinsky's previous negative comments about Elliot's mentor, Charlie Trotter. Fortunately, most of the news these days about Elliot focuses on the positive change at his original restaurant. This summer, the Chicago Tribune awarded the River North destination a three- star review. Having dinner there continues to be an exciting experience. When the restaurant first opened, Elliot bucked the idea of fine dining by playing indie rock and decking servers out in jeans and Chuck Taylors. Today, the uniforms have become more streamlined and professional, yet hardly stuffy. The ambi- ence in the dark, wood-adorned room is less whimsical and more mature. This is all a part of the evolution that is Graham Elliot. "What we've been trying to do is sometimes misunderstood," says Elliot, who considers this to be the eatery's fourth iteration. "I've always said a restaurant is like an artistic outlet that's constantly evolv- ing, and it's an extension of the chef or whoever is leading the ship." These days, while Elliot could be called the admiral of that ship, Brochu is the captain. His background bridges molecular gastronomy continued on page 72 Oprah Winfrey is a fan of Graham Elliot. PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATHAN KIRKMAN; CHARLES ESHELMAN/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES (WINFREY)