Darnit—we hate it when this happens. In his
review on newsstands now, our restaurant critic Patric Kuh awards three whopping stars to Craftbar, the new, lower-priced restaurant-within-a-restaurant at Craft in Century City. Late last week, however, we learned of the departure of Craft’s chef de cuisine Matthew Accarrino and pastry chef Catherine Schimenti, both of whom Patric particularly calls out for their work on the innovative Craftbar menu. And while we’re sure the new kitchen staff put in place by Craft executive chef Tom Colicchio will be able to handle the job, this puts us in a tricky spot. That menu was so fundamentally theirs, it’s hard to gauge whether what’s being served today will be representative of what Patric describes in his review. But hey—you just can’t predict these things. We can say that the price point is staying the same, and the overarching philosophies of Tom Colicchio, which drive the entire Craft franchise, are still intact. We wish the new team—which will be headed by chef de cuisine Anthony Zappola and pastry chef Shannon Swindle, both from Craft Dallas—the very best.
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