Pastry Chefs

Fritz Pastry Ex-Owner Joins RM Champagne Salon; New Fritz Opens Tomorrow

Photo: courtesy of Facebook

Last week Nate (formerly Nathaniel) Meads, who had just turned over his bakery, Fritz Pastry, to a new owner, played cagey with Penny Pollack in Dish about what his next move would be, claiming that he would start a new job shortly in a fine dining spot… but he didn’t know the name of it. Riiiight, but assuming that he was hinting that it was a new place that hadn’t opened yet but was close to (so not Duffy’s or Graham Elliot’s upcoming spots, say), it didn’t leave a huge number of high-end candidates for where he might be going. And so it’s not that big a surprise that the answer turns out to be RM, the champagne salon adjacent to the likewise upcoming Nellcote.

Meads, who worked at Tru, Everest, Blue Water Grill and Brasserie Jo before opening Fritz Pastry with his wife, and whose macarons were worshiped by west Lakeview stroller moms, seems a natural fit for the grower-champagne focused lounge. He’ll have a major role there, since the menu is mostly on the lighter side, canapes, tea sandwiches, pastries and mignardises, and his work will have more emphasis than it would in a traditional restaurant. Jared Van Camp, one of the partners in Element Collective which is developing RM, said of Meads, “Not only did Nate’s personality fit the general attitude of our group, but his tasting absolutely blew us away. Everything he put in front of us was the best we’ve ever tasted. His madeleines, the best. His soufflé, unbelievable, and so on.”

Incidentally, Fritz Pastry tweets that it will reopen tomorrow under its new owner and pastry chef at 9 a.m.

Fritz Pastry Ex-Owner Joins RM Champagne Salon; New Fritz Opens Tomorrow