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Inside The (New!) Pump Room at Public Chicago

Where: 1301 N State Pkwy [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60610

Like with any good meal, we saved the best for last. And we're talking about the revamped legendary Pump Room restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten inside Ian Schrager's new hotel, Public Chicago.

Ok, now that we've got that loaded introduction (Pump Room! Vongerichten! Schrager!) out of the way, onto the good stuff. Oh but first, to be fair, while JGV designed the menu concept, the chef hard at work in the restaurant is chef Bradford Phillips, an Indiana native whose resume includes NoMI at The Park Hyatt Chicago. Now, onto the food!

So we actually took a seat in the hotel's Library Bar on the other side of the lobby hoping to sip a drink and eat some food away from the Pump Room scene. (It was opening night so there was lots of backslapping going on and PYTs clogging up the bar.) But a hostess told us that while they would usually serve food in the bar area, that was not happening tonight. There were, however, some cancellations for dinner and she could seat us in the Pump Room instead.

Eeeee, we hesitated because we were dining by our lonesome. But faced with the possibility of not having tasted the Pump Room before checking out, we said, F it and followed the hostess to a table along the windows and overlooking the hubub in the middle of the restaurant.

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Hotel Openings / Hotel Packages / Hawaii Hotels / Jean-Georges Vongerichten / → All Tags

St. Regis Princeville Will Indeed Re-Open on Oct. 1

Where: 5520 Kahaku Rd [map], Princeville, HI, United States, 96722

Despite our fears for the worst, it seems the St. Regis Princeville is actually still on track to reopen Oct. 1 (or Sept. 26, if you trust its website). The first-ever St. Regis resort on Hawaii, the Kauai resort is finishing up a multi-million dollar renovation that includes a new Halele’a Spa, golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, and a new resto—called Kaua’I Grill—by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

To ring in the good news, the 252-room St. Regis Princeville is launching the Quintessential Celebration Series, a four-part guest party through October and November. The four celebration offers will be available to a limited number of guests and will include a five-night stay for two, beachside welcome reception, two days of activities and events, and a ticket to the St. Regis Princeville Gala Evening with “notable honorary guests.”

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Hotel Restaurants / Jean-Georges Vongerichten / Hotel News / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags

Ago at Greenwich Hotel Will Soon Be A-Gone

Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10013

Please excuse our silly puns but it's Friday (Holla!) Eater is reporting that Jean-Georges Vongerichten (does anyone have a phonic guide to pronouncing his name?) will take over the space that is currently occupied by the failed Ago restaurant inside The Greenwich Hotel.

Ago, a sort of chain from Chef Agostini Sciandri, never could recover from the beatdown that NY Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave it in the form of zero stars. From Eater:

[Jean-Georges] tells us he is very close to a deal on the space, and while we're sure Bobby DeNiro will be involved in some capacity as he is an owner of the hotel, the restaurant won't live on in its current incarnation.

We wish we could say this saddens us or something but whatever. Bring on the JGV, a chef with mad experience opening restaurants inside hotels. Some examples? The Mercer Kitchen at the Mercer Hotel, Prime at the Bellagio, and a sweet contract with Starwood Hotels to open his Spice Market restaurants in W Hotels.

For now, the Ago restaurant is still listed on the hotel's website and is still in service. We'll keep you posted on when that changes.