4 Staff Shuffles to Know At Chicago Restaurants and Bars

FULTON MARKET—As chef/owner John Manion prepares to open his second restaurant, El Che Bar, next week, there's a new chef de cuisine at his original latin stalwart. Eric Michael, formerly the executive chef at The Southern and the chef de cuisine at Dusek's, is now running the kitchen at La Sirena Clandestina, and has launched new dishes including smoked chicken Coxinha with compressed melon, country ham, feta, arugula, and cashew vinaigrette. He's also launching an Olympic-themed menu on August 5 that includes grilled confit octopus with black popcorn puree, chile-grapefruit vinaigrette, butter poached heart of palm, and chicharrón.

RIVER NORTH—There's a new beverage director at cocktail hotspot Broken Shaker. Scotty LoBianco, a former staffer at The Berkshire Room and GT Fish & Oyster, has taken over the drinks program and is launching a new menu this week in the Freehand, which you can read below.

LAKESHORE EAST—The new chef at Filini in the swanky Radisson Blu Aqua hotel is a Bridgeport native with an eye-catching name. Rick Starr, who also owns a restaurant in suburban Lindenhurst, is now running the Italian hotel restaurant and has added seasonal dishes made with local farm-raised ingredients to the menu such as tortelli with Radical Root Farm rainbow Swiss chard, bufala ricotta, and Parmigiano Reggiano butter; and braised veal cheeks with foie gras and Italian summer truffle.

RIVER NORTH—Adam Grandt, formerly of Andersonville staple Vincent, is the new executive chef at Enolo Wine Cafe on Clark Street. Some of his new dishes to try include shrimp a la plancha with fennel, sweet onion, pickled fresno, and bacon relish; and artichoke ravioli with green beans, heirloom cherry tomatoes, baby artichokes, red onion, and parmesan cheese. Grandt takes over for Rich Phelps, who was announced as chef just six months ago.