11-06-2025
Chicago Restaurant Closing June 28 After Opening 7 Months Ago
A Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant made way for a new open-fire restaurant in November when Fire was born.
"There is nothing more captivating than a hearth ablaze… embers glowing, flames leaping, burning logs crackling… an unpredictable, mesmerizing display of energy unleashed in a rhythmic dance of glowing flames. It is from this element - and ancient cooking tool - that we draw inspiration," the restaurant said on its website.
'I've been wanting to create something new,' Alinea co-founder and chef Grant Achatz said at the time. 'In my travels, some of my favorite meals have been in restaurants that use the fire in a dedicated, focused way. It was time to try our hand at this level of commitment to the fire and explore its possibilities within the refined rusticity. We think a tasting menu format is best suited to experience the wide range of nuances the hearth provides.'
Just seven months later, the restaurant is now closing, citing rising rental prices. Alinea CEO Jason Weingarten told Eater the decision to close on Saturday, June 28, was purely tied to real estate, citing that rents have increased 500 to 600 percent since the group moved into the space in 2016 when it opened Roister - the Michelin-starred restaurant Fire replaced.
The tasting-menu only restaurant suffered from a large kitchen that dominates the space and takes away from space for seating customers. Despite its closing, Weingarten suggested a revival could be in the works in the future.
'You can see Fire as a concept that would work well in the Middle East, work well in Europe, it would work well in winter, or at a resort,' he Restaurant Closing June 28 After Opening 7 Months Ago first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 11, 2025
