Sept. 02--Michael McDonald, for four years the executive chef at one sixtyblue and currently executive chef at Zed 451, is heading to the western suburbs.
McDonald will become executive chef and culinary director for the Le Meridien Chicago (2100 Spring Rd., Oak Brook).
"I took the job for a lot of reasons," he said. "It's giving me more creative space, this seems to be a team that encourages new ideas, and the fact that it's new. When I started at one sixtyblue, they didn't say, 'Continue what Martial (Noguier) was doing;' they said to change things up, and that excited me. I think I have that same opportunity here."
Another factor, McDonald said, was the hotel's relatively modest scale.
"The size of the property is such that I don't have to sit a desk and do administrative work all day," he said. "I can throw an apron on, grab a knife and get busy; and that's my strength, that hands-on approach."
But the clincher? McDonald is engaged, and his wife-to-be resides in Naperville, about 15 miles from the hotel.
"If not for her," he said, "I probably wouldn't have looked into this opportunity."
Part of McDonald's duties involve overseeing the hotel's top-floor dining room, the year-old El Tapeo. McDonald says he was impressed by the food at El Tapeo, and is committed to sticking to the tapas concept.
"And of course we do weddings and private events, and I want to take those to a higher level in terms of cuisine," he said. "And the party sizes are manageable; we're not doing weddings for 2,000. It's fun not having to cook plain old banquet food; it's fun to be impactful."
Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic.
pvettel@tribpub.com
Twitter @philvettel
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