Restaurant News: Koren Grieveson Leaves avec, Belly Q Opens Today

By Anthony Todd in Food on Aug 22, 2012 7:45PM

- This is a bombshell of a chef change: Koren Grieveson, who has been at avec since 2003, left the restaurant this week. Eater initially reported her departure, along with a cordial statement from One Off Hospitality, the group that runs all the Paul Kahan-helmed restaurants. Grieveson had previously worked at blackbird since 1998 before moving to Avec. 312 Dining Diva subsequently reported an unsubstantiated rumor that Grieveson was moving to get married. No word yet on who will replace her or whether her departure will lead to any changes at the beloved restaurant.

- Belly Q opens tonight at 5 p.m. The team at the new Bill Kim-run Asian barbecue restaurant revealed to Eater that tonight was the night, after rumors swirled that the opening would be sometime this week. What little we can see of the space looks beautiful, and anything we put into our mouths that comes out of a Bill Kim kitchen is bound to be good. We'll definitely be following up on this one.

- Is the Tribune planning to write Charlie Trotter's a scathing sendoff? After a week of loving retrospectives, Grubstreet Chicago speculated that Mark Caro, Tribune reporter and author of The Foie Gras Wars, may be planning to write a poison pen letter to the famous chef. He mentions the bad blood between Trotter and the Trib, including a writer supposedly denied service at the restaurant and the fact that Trotter gave the exclusive on his closure to the Sun-Times, as well as a bunch of other bits and pieces that may indicate that the Tribune is about to do something unexpected. We'll have to wait and see.