Carrie Nahabedian has a name for her new restaurant. The Michelin-starred Naha chef will call her new River North American French-inspired fine-dining restaurant Brindille, which means "branch" or "new growth" in French. The restaurant, to be located at 534 N. Clark, was originally shooting to open this fall, but now Nahabedian is targeting a Feb. 14 opening date, according to a tweet sent out this morning by Penny Pollack.
In related news, Nahabedian is the latest Chicago chef to go on a health kick. First Art Smith impressed the world when he shed 100 pounds about two years ago. Now Nahabedian is getting back into fighting shape. The chef recently told Eater she has already lost more than 140 pounds through exercise and good diet and plans to shed another 70. "I just decided to get healthy starting Feb 1 since my back was so bad," Nahabedian said. "I want to lose enough weight so I weigh what I was in high school!" Weigh to go! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
· Penny Pollack [Twitter]
[Photo: Nahabedian's on the road to getting in shape]