We’ll soon be eating Italian at 9th and Hennepin.

When D’Amico & Partners and the Chambers Hotel announced their partnership last month (a move to replace Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant and catering operation, which opened the hotel in 2006), few details were in place. Now the news is out.

First: John Occhiato, the talented chef who directed D’Amico Cucina, the company’s flagship downtown Minneapolis restaurant, will be the guy in charge at the Chambers. This is good news. When Richard and Larry D’Amico closed the Cucina in June after a 22-year run, one of the most depressing aspects of the closure was losing a platform for Occhiato’s particular gifts.

Second: The new restaurant will be called D’Amico Kitchen.

Third: The lower-level dining room? It’s toast. Post-renovations, diners will skip the stairway and remain on the hotel’s street level in a reconfigured restaurant and lounge, with seating for 110.

Fourth: The Chambers Kitchen is history; farewells were said on Sunday. A “very limited” (so says the press release) Continental/American interim menu in being served in the hotel’s courtyard (check out the bar menu here), and hotel guests have access to in-room dining 24/7.

Fifth: Not a lot of menu details have been released, but the D’Amico machine is describing their latest toy as “a casual, contemporary Italian concept” that will feature several dozen small plates in the $8 to $12 range, as well as pizzas and a variety of entrees. Like the Chambers Kitchen before it, the restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

Sixth: No firm opening date has been announced, other than a squishy “late August.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 7:59 am and is filed under Restaurant news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.