The Publican Announces New Wine and Spirits Manager; Bayless' Bar Manager Exits

A couple beverage director personnel changes are coming to prominent Chicago restaurants. Paul Kahan's The Publican has a new wine and spirits manager, Chase "Cha Cha" Bracamontes, who will handle the booze program on Fulton Market with the exception of beer (the restaurant is searching for a new beer manager). Bracamontes, who worked for five years at Andrew Carmellini's The Dutch in New York, is focusing the wine list on German, Austrian, Slovenian, and Northern Italian varietals.

Meanwhile, a major staffing change is also coming to Rick Bayless' restaurants. Bar manager Jay Schroeder, who took over the beverage programs at Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Xoco in October 2013, is the latest Bayless staffer to head out on his own. "I've been working on a project for some time now, and it's time to put plans into action," Schroeder writes in an email. "I look forward to sharing some big news very soon." There's no word yet on Schroeder's replacement at the Bayless restaurants.