Forks are at the ready for a steady stream of exciting newcomers that starts on April 7th with the debut of Haussmann, Jacky Pluton's French-American brasserie in Northfield (305 S. Happ Rd.).
Mid-month, expect Perennial, a Lincoln Park American bistro from the BOKA team (Park View Hotel, 1800 N. Lincoln Ave.). Park 52, Jerry Kleiner's Hyde Park American grill (5201 S. Harper Ave.), and Soul, Howard Davis' upscale American comfort food destination in downtown Clarendon Hills (1 Walker Ave.), also plan to open around then.
The last week of April welcomes two long-delayed openings – Jackson Park Grill, Jason Paskewitz's New American steakhouse in River North (444 N. Wabash Ave.), and Olo, the Market District spin-off of Isabella's Estiatorio (1152 W. Randolph St.).
Marcus Samuelsson's highly anticipated C-House is now slated to open in early May (166 E. Superior St.). The latest intel on L.20, Lettuce Entertain You's Laurent Gras upscale seafooder replacing Ambria, predicts an early-mid May opening. Tocco, FoLLia's wood-fired pizza sequel in Bucktown is set for June (1266 N. Milwaukee Ave.). Also slated for early summer are Blackbird's super-secret, unnamed "beer, pork and fish" pub in the Market District (845 W. Fulton Market) and Graham Elliot, the eponymous creative American from the former Avenues chef in River North (217 W. Huron St.). Tony Priolo (ex Coco Pazzo) will bring his own little Italian dream to fruition with Piccolo Sogno in the former Timo/Thyme space in early summer too (464 N. Halsted St.).
Meanwhile, Table 8, the South Beach spin-off featuring pedigreed chef Govind Armstrong's New American cuisine, isn't talking about its location or timing yet; same goes for Lula, which is launching an unnamed South Loop second with sous-chef Jason Vincent in the kitchen. And foodies are primed for the sometime-in-'08 options from super-chefs Terrance Brennan (Artisanal, Picholine) and Joël Robuchon (L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon) that'll be rolling into town.