People who are good at something are getting jobs doing it in new places! It’s a hot trend because we have three of them! Example #1: Erin Hayes, Perennial Virant beverage director who also designed the regional and seasonal beverage programs for the rooftop lounge in the Hotel Lincoln, the J. Parker, has left to join La Sirena Clandestina. Since South America was one of the regions she focused on for the J. Parker, it seems like working with La Sirena’s beverage director Justin Anderson will be a natural. [312 Dining Diva]
• Example #2: Jonathan Harootunian has joined the hugely popular Carlucci in Downers Grove as executive chef after working for the parent company Carlucci Hospitality Group as a consulting chef. Harootunian has had a long career in Chicago and elsewhere; he was executive chef at Courtright’s when it received four stars from both the Tribune and the Sun-Times and has been at Vivere and Meritage, among others, during his 30-year career.
• Bill Anderson is the new bar manager at another suburban spot, Vie. He comes to the Western Springs restaurant from Sepia, where he learned that cocktails were more than a beer and a shot (he says) from Sepia’s Josh Pearson; he also spent time at Avec. His program at Vie is meant to be complimentary to the restaurant’s focus on preserving and farm-fresh ingredients, as in his Quincerac cocktail, which uses housemade quince-infused Rittenhouse Rye.
