Chef Jason Vincent (Of Acclaimed Giant) Opening New Spot In Ace Hotel

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 27, 2017 5:40PM

The inside of Giant. Photo via Instagram.

Giant was one of my favorite restaurant openings of 2016 (and pretty much every critic and writer was with me on that one) so when the announcement hit my desk that Chef Jason Vincent was opening a new spot, I actually yelped with excitement.

The Ace Hotel is opening a new property at 311 N. Morgan St., and they're aiming to be open by September. Vincent, along with a to-be-named-later Executive Chef who will be in charge of things on the ground, is running both the restaurant and in-room dining. Giant's drink guru, Josh Perlman, will be running all the beverage operations for the hotel.

This is yet another example of an awesome trend: fancy hotels bringing in established, outside vendors to run some of their food and bev, thereby making sure it's decent and a bit of a destination. Think Land and Sea Department at Chicago Athletic Association, Steadfast at the Kimpton Grey or The Berkshire Room at The Acme Hotel, all destinations for dining and drinking as much as they are hotels.

Sadly, aside from the Giant team's participation, there aren't any details about the menu yet—the restaurant doesn't even have a name. Even the URL is mysterious. It's just http://thiswillbearestaurant.com. But, despite the lack of specifics, this is definitely a pre-opening announcement to get excited about. I'm marking my calendar for September 1.