American Airlines Taps Star Chicago Chef for Beard Awards Partnership

New James Beard Foundation partnership offers American Airlines travelers food from award-winning chefs

The James Beard Foundation and American Airlines announced a partnership to offer airplane travelers food from award-winning chefs, according to a news release. Top Chef finalist and Beard-award winner Sarah Grueneberg of essential Chicago restaurant Monteverde is the first contributing chef. Her dishes, including grilled Roman-style artichokes and mushroom bolognese, will be available on flights and in airport lounges. The new menu items debut December 3 for first- or business-class passengers flying from the U.S. to Europe and South America, and between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Lightfoot plan to raise tipped workers’s sub-minimum wage picks up steam

The City Council’s budget committee approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed minimum wage compromise, according to the Sun-Times. First floated last week, the mayor’s plan calls for a $15-an-hour wage by 2021, but maintains a sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, who are only guaranteed 60 percent. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises VP Ethan Sampson and Ryan Marks of Legacy Hospitality Group (the Vig, the Whale) endorsed the plan, and Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia described the move as “pragmatic.”

Ex-Grace chef Curtis Duffy to appear at the Hideout

Acclaimed ex-Grace chef Curtis Duffy and GM Michael Muser are slated to appear on hosts Mark Bazers’s the Interview Show, taped at the Hideout Inn and broadcast on PBS Chicago. The duo could presumably discuss their upcoming restaurant, Ever. The spot is one of the most anticipated openings of 2020. Additional guests include Veep actor David Pasquesi and Greta Johnson of NPR’s Nerdette podcast. Tickets ($15) for the live taping on December 6 are available online and will air on WTTW on January 3 at 8:30 p.m.

A developer plans to turn Lincoln Square’s Chicago Brauhaus into a medical office

Developer GW Properties hopes to turn the Lincoln Square building that housed 52-year-old German stalwart Chicago Brauhaus into a Northwestern Medicine office, Block Club reported. Area residents and Alderman (47th Ward) Matt Martin are unhappy about the change, saying that the medical office doesn’t fit in with surrounding businesses. A GW employee told reporters that the plan isn’t yet finalized but wouldn’t require a zoning change, and that the developer wants to maintain the building’s Germanic facade.

Harold’s Chicken opens on Friday in Hollywood

And finally, Chicago’s beloved chicken chain Harold’s will launch a new West Coast restaurant in Hollywood on Friday to much fanfare, including an appearance by Chicago-raised artist Kanye West. The company announced plans for the Hollywood Boulevard location in 2017, and anticipation built among locals over the two years it took to bring the restaurant to fruition. In 2013, CEO Kristen Pierce — daughter of founder Harold Pierce — said she wanted to expand the Chicago chain nationally.