Chef Shuffle

Laurent Gras Taking Leave from L2O

As if this week wasn’t filled with enough shocking news, it appears that Laurent Gras is taking a break from L2O. This all started about an hour ago when the 312 Dining Diva reported that Gras had suddenly left this week and “wasn’t happy.” According to Time Out, Gras didn’t storm out because of work, but is quietly taking a leave from the restaurant to deal with some personal matters. At first he wanted to permanently leave, but was convinced to take some time off from Rich Melman. Still, nothing is certain. “To be honest, I don’t know if he’s going to take a month off…or if he’s never going to come back. I don’t know,” Melman told Time Out. This would be a huge shock, as the restaurant was essentially created around Gras, and he helped make it one of the top fish restaurants in the country. This is especially surprising considering that the Chicago Michelin guide is about to come out and L2O was expected to do extremely well. Of course, personal matters are obviously more important, and we hope that he can get things sorted out and return to the kitchen. [TOC, 312 Dining Diva]

Laurent Gras Taking Leave from L2O