Chefs

Koren Grieveson Is No Longer Avec Avec; Food Types Freak Out

Koren Grieveson.
Koren Grieveson.

Here’s what we know: Koren Grieveson has left Avec, the critically admired, jampacked bar-slash-gastropub-before-anybody-really-used-that-term, after nine years of running its kitchen. We think we know a few other things, but our Twitter feed and the like were so full of things people thought they knew last night that we’re sort of reluctant to add to the world’s sum of alleged knowledge on this topic. Eater broke the story, and despite carrying a statement from One Off Hospitality that said Grieveson would remain a partner in Avec, seemed to imply that she, like a few other high-profile chefs lately, had gotten the boot from Paul Kahan’s organization (“The departure comes as a surprise as Grieveson has received numerous accolades for her work with the company”). Which we, admittedly knowing nothing, doubt a lot. 312 Dining Diva was the first to mention what most food insiders surely have known for a while, that Grieveson has wanted to move to New York for personal reasons for some time. (We’ll leave the details at that.) In the meantime, there was all kinds of tsouris online about this, people as well as food journalists imagining Avec doomed or even closed (no), the Kahan empire in turmoil, dogs and cats living together, the whole megillah.

Here’s what more we’d guess: nine years in one chef job is a long time, and leaving one after that period is the opposite of sudden or surprising. Grieveson will come to New York with an impressive record and should have no trouble landing a high profile position, assuming she wants one. And last but not least, we know this: we spoke with her about a month ago and she said the prospect of an Avec New York had been on hold, waiting for the dust to settle on the opening and direction of Publican Quality Meats. With the new hotel project that Paul Kahan’s company is involved with now appearing on the horizon, she may have felt that Avec New York was always going to be off in the future and she needed to simply make her own move for herself. We wish her the best in that, and though this likely ensures that Avec isn’t going to New York, in another sense it is, and we look forward to whatever Koren Grieveson New York proves to be.

Koren Grieveson Is No Longer Avec Avec; Food Types Freak Out