Restaurant News: Executive Chef Of Aviary Fired, Bryce Caron Takes Pastry Job At Graham Elliot

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jun 12, 2012 7:20PM

- In the big shocker of the day, Craig Schoettler, Executive Chef of The Aviary, was fired. Despite the fact that The Aviary has won every award for cocktails that there is in the entire world (and Schoettler was named beverage professional of the year in 2011 by the Trib) it looks like he's out of the kitchen. 312 Dining Diva broke the story after she noticed a tweet from Schoettler and a response from his girlfriend, Jennifer Contraveos. Eater Chicago has confirmed with Schoettler that he was fired, but hasn't gotten any details yet. Looks like there is probably an interesting story behind this that will unfold in the next few days.

- Less than three weeks after being fired from blackbird, Pastry Chef Bryce Caron will be taking over at Graham Elliot. Caron told Grubstreet Chicago that he was fired on a Friday and Chef Andrew Brochu of Graham Elliot invited him to dinner on Saturday. Not a bad turnaround, but we expected someone would snap him up quickly. He will be responsible for the four final courses of the tasting menu at Graham Elliot, and had some interesting things to say about eliminating the idea of a "pastry chef." "I do food, I just happen to use a little more sugar," he said.

- Crofton on Wells is, sadly, gone for good. We reported on the closing a few months back, but owner Suzy Crofton had indicated that she wanted to reconcept the space and open a more accesible space. Unfortunately, it looks like that's off - there's a for sale sign up, and she told Eater that Crofton on Wells is officially dead. Unless an investor comes forward, she says she's out of the restaurant business. We hope someone comes forward ASAP - it would be a good investment.