Ian Schrager Keeps Pump Room Name, Taps Bradford Phillips as Executive Chef

With more than 28,000 votes cast, Chicago has spoken: The Pump Room will remain the restaurant in Public, the forthcoming Ian Schrager hotel that's taking the place of the long-heralded Ambassador East.

Schrager, the famed hotelier behind such places as Miami's Delano, San Francisco's Clift and New York's Hudson—not to mention the iconic Studio 54 nightclub—bought Chicago's classic Ambassador East and will open Public this fall. When the hotel opens, its centerpiece will be the Pump Room, created by Jean-Georges Vongeritchten and inspired by his James Beard award winning New York restaurant ABC Kitchen

While Jean-Georges created the menu, local chef Bradford Phillips (LM, Blackbird, Tru) has been named the executive chef and will oversee the daily operations. The hotel and restaurant will go into previews on Sept. 12 and open officially on Oct. 11.

Schrager, to put a bit of personal touch to the announcement, created a home video while holding his young son, Louis, who was wearing a Bulls jersey, which he apparently had to be coerced into putting on. The hotelier admitted that all he ever wanted to do was call the restaurant by the name the people of Chicago wanted to give it and said they were overwhelmed by the amont of votes that came in. Of the 28,000 votes, Eater was told that nearly 95 percent of the voters remained loyal to the Pump Room. Too bad Macy's didn't feel the same way about Marshall Field's. Watch the video:

· Will Scrhager Keep the Pump Room? It's Up to the Public [~EChi~]
· Confirmed: Ian Schrager Teaming with Jean-Georges Vongerichten for Pump Room [~EChi~]