Wednesday, January 16, 2013

[NEWS BITES] Polcyn closes Cinco Lagos, hires Michelin-experienced chef for Forest Grill

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

On Monday night, nationally-renowned chef Brian Polcyn pulled the plug on his former flagship restaurant Cinco Lagos (known best as Five Lakes Grill) in Milford. Plans of shuttering Cinco Lagos have been in the plans for some time; however, the closing came quickly and without official warning.

Polcyn is currently focusing his efforts on Forest Grill in Birmingham. After losing longtime Chef de Cuisine David Gilbert and his wife and Forest Grill GM Monica (who are opening their own restaurant, Marais, this spring in Grosse Pointe Park), the Grill has seen some changeover and Polcyn himself is often in the kitchen cooking.

Soon that will no longer be the case when Polcyn's newest hire Nick Janutol comes on board as Chef de Cuisine next week. Janutol is a Michigan native who has been working in Chicago at the Michelin-starred restaurant L2O and has previously worked at the Michelin-starred RIA in Chicago and Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York. The guy has serious culinary creds.

Currently Polcyn has no future plans for the Cinco Lagos building and is hoping to sell it to another serious restaurateur who will uphold the reputation he worked hard to create.

These plans have been a long time in the works and are all coming together simultaneously. Stay tuned for the full story with interviews with Polcyn, Janutol and others later this week.