It’s starting to feel like a changing of the guard. At the beginning of the year we had the closing of one of the North Shore’s most venerable restaurants, Carlos’ in Highland Park, and now comes word that another of a similar vintage and stature, Gabriel’s in Highwood, will shutter after next week, ending a 19-year run. Admittedly, in neither case is the restaurateur involved completely leaving the business; Carlos’ morphed into the more casual Nieto’s and Gabriel Viti plans to keep his French bistro, Miramar, a couple of blocks away. Still, it does seem a bit like a passing of the torch to newer restaurateurs such as John Des Rosiers (who spent some time in Gabriel’s kitchen). According to Eater, owner Gabriel Viti has become more involved with ambitious outdoor pursuits in recent years and came to feel that he couldn’t do that and properly run two restaurants (plus a bar, which he plans to sell). [Eater]
