Chef Curtis Duffy’s Fast-Food Spot Rêve Burger to Close in July

Rêve Burger, the early pandemic side project from fine dining chef Curtis Duffy of the two-Michelin-star restaurant Ever, will permanently close on Saturday, July 2 at 1363 W. Fulton Street.

Originally launched in December 2020 by Duffy and business partner Michael Muser as a stop-gap measure to bring in some funds during a ban on indoor dining, Rêve Burger initially slung griddled double cheeseburgers and fries out of the kitchen at Ever, the ambitious $5 million Fulton Market restaurant that represented the pair’s return to Chicago after their departure from three-Michelin-starred Grace.

Initially, Muser was not thrilled about the idea of Ever becoming a burger joint, he tells Crain’s. The idea of grease splattered across the immaculate kitchen was too much for him, but dwindling coffers forced his hand. He finally came around when he saw Chicagoans’ enthusiasm for the approach: the team sold out day after day. Business was so good that the operation relocated across the street into a vacant building and continued to draw hoards of fans hungry for Duffy’s take on a well-executed, no-frills fast-food sandwich.

On Tuesday, Duffy and Muser announced on Instagram that the building that houses Rêve (“Ever” spelled backwards and “dream” in French) will be razed in favor of new construction. “Rêve Burger started as a pandemic pivot and later took over a vacant building across the street from Ever restaurant,” they write. “Now the building is being torn down to make way for a new tower. We are grateful for the space that Rêve has called home for the last year and a half.”

Rêve’s impending closure will mark Chicago’s second shuttered burger spot from upscale restaurateurs this season. Maillard Tavern, the five-year-old burger bar from Piccolo Sogno co-owners Tony Priolo and Ciro Longobardo, permanently closed in late May after severe financial losses they attributed to the pandemic.

A Logan Square restaurant celebrates its fifth birthday with a social media fakeout

Daisies, the Logan Square pasta restaurant, celebrated its fifth birthday with an Instagram announcement from owner and chef Joe Frillman that it will be closing... but only because it will be moving. Sneaky! Frillman wrote that Daisies 2.0 will stay in the neighborhood and open by the end of the 2022.

A neighborhood restaurant crawl returns to Albany Park

Flavors of Albany Park, a culinary tour of one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods, returns for its 13th year next Wednesday, June 22, Block Club reports. Over the course of the evening, attendees can sample small plates from 60 different restaurants along four separate routes. Tickets are $40 for adults, $25 for students and seniors, and $13 for kids 12 and under and are available via Eventbrite; a full list of restaurants is on the River North Commission website.

At Ed Debevic’s, Elvis Hour is the happiest part of the day

In what seems like a natural collaboration, the faux-’50s diner Ed Debevic’s in Streeterville is joining in promotional efforts for the new Baz Luhrmann movie Elvis, which opens June 24. (Austin Butler plays the title role, while Tom Hanks is his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.) Starting Monday, June 13, Ed’s will observe Elvis Hour every afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. by serving the singer’s favorite meal, a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich called the King, while playing his hits on the jukebox (or, more likely, sound system). There will also be movie-related giveaways. No word on if there will be special discounts for customers in blue suede shoes or if hound dogs will be welcome, but there will likely be pelvis-wriggling on the restaurant’s dance catwalk.

A photo exhibit pays tribute to Puerto Rican abuelas and their kitchens

The Sofrito Manifesto, a photography exhibition based on the book by the artist Bernardo Medina that celebrates the kitchens of Puerto Rican grandmothers, opens tomorrow, June 9, at the Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Humboldt Park. The photographs show both ingredients and finished dishes; there’s also a six-foot-long bodegón, or still-life, of Puerto Rican Christmas table traditions.