Restaurant News: Alinea Switching To Tickets, Butcher & Larder Teams Up With Kuma's

By Anthony Todd in Food on Mar 5, 2012 4:20PM

- Grant Achatz told the Huffington Post last week that all reservations at Alinea will be switching to a ticketing system similar to the one used at Next. His reasoning? Profits. He pointed out that restaurants run a very small profit margin, and if he gets all the money in advance, a no-show reservation won't destroy his ability to make money. He has something of a point, and other restauranteurs are starting to jump on board with the idea—will every opening soon involve a ticket lottery? If so, our refresh buttons will explode. The changeover won't happen until June.

- After a drama-filled collapse, the space at Tribute (which opened and closed before most people even noticed) is being repurposed into a new restaurant. The owners of LM Restaurant in Lincoln Square have taken over the space to open Brasserie by LM. According to Chicago Magazine, "The traditional French brasserie menu will feature plats du jour such as boeuf bourguignon or steak frites, and crème brûlées for dessert. A prix fixe costing in the neighborhood of $25 will be available for lunch and dinner." Here's hoping that they manage to keep it alive this time; it'd be nice to get decent French food on that part of Michigan Avenue.

- In a collaboration that we barely dared to predict in our happiest dreams, Kuma's Corner has teamed up with The Butcher & Larder to produce and serve a line of sausages. Both businesses have cult-like followings for their meaty wares, so perhaps it was an inevitable combination. Eater Chicago reported: "From time to time, B&L's Rob Levitt will select a burger from the Kuma's menu and re-create it in sausage form to sell at the Noble Square butcher shop. The first, which quickly sold out last week, was a take on Kuma's High on Fire burger (pork sausage with ham, sweet chili paste, sriracha, pineapple and roasted pepper)." Can you imagine - Kuma's food without standing in line? The mind reels. We'll be watching Rob Levitt's twitter feed for more updates.