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Out to pasture...
In our dining feature today, "Flight Cool," we listed six sensational places to get flights of exotic ice cream flavors. Um, well, make that five -- we had to delete one spot. After we put the issue to bed on Friday afternoon, Graze, the not-quite-six-month-old small plate spot in River North, abruptly closed for good. (Too bad, pastry chef Jordan Rappaport's scotch rum-raisin ice cream sounded dreamy). "We were told Friday afternoon that we would not be doing dinner service...or finishing lunch service," executive chef Bob Zrenner told us this afternoon. "Our final paychecks would be in the mail."
It came as a bit of a shock to the entire crew, he says. They knew that the spot hadn't been quite as busy as they had hoped, but were quietly making adjustments to the menu to attract more customers. "Six months for a restaurant to make it or break isn't enough," says Zrenner. "It got to the point where [owners] were going to have to walk away or double down," he said. Sometimes, you have to know when to fold 'em, we guess.
As far as Zrenner is concerned, he's working on his resume (which also includes the now closed Tournesol and X/O, which has endured a recent metamorphosis, becoming Halsted's Bar and Grill.) "I'll see who is looking for an executive chef or chef de cuisine," he says.
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