Will Schrager Keep the Pump Room? It's Up to the Public

After decades of being one of Chicago's most heralded restaurants, the Pump Room inside the Ambassador East Hotel was dismantled and its parts sold off at auction. Now that legendary hotelier Ian Schrager bought the property and is giving it a makeover, the new hotel, Public, will be revealed this fall. But will the restaurant still be named the Pump Room? Whether it remains is up to the people.

Schrager launched a campaign today to determine if the Pump Room name will remain. People who want to voice their opinion can vote between keeping the original name or changing it to Gold Coast Kitchen, a nod to ABC Kitchen, the James Beard-award winning New York restaurant owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who will run the new Chicago spot.

For the next two weeks, people can cast their vote in one of four ways:

· Vote online at the Public website
· Call: 888-682-PUMP (to vote to keep the Pump Room)
· Call: 888-943-GOLD (to vote for Gold Coast Kitchen)
· Text either PUMP or GOLD to 24474

Schrager will announce the new name on June 22.
· Confirmed: Ian Schrager Teaming with Jean-Georges Vongerichten for Pump Room [~EChi~]

Ian Schrager [Photo: NY Mag]