Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert has announced plans to open a restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton on 22nd and M Streets in early September. While details are still in the works, the restaurant will be located in the street-level space formerly occupied by the Grille, which closed six months ago. A Ritz rep says a name has not officially been chosen, though The New York Times suggests it will be West End, after the hotel’s neighborhood.
This venture will be Ripert’s second with Ritz-Carlton; he consulted on the brand’s Blue and Periwinkle restaurant in Grand Cayman. Also announced this week: a Ripert-run casual concept in the Philadelphia Ritz slated to open in spring 2008. The French native is the recipient of the 2003 James Beard Outstanding Chef of the Year award.
