Chicago gets ready to 'Rock' at Millennium Park

Nation's Restaurant News, April 1, 2002 by Carolyn Walkup

CHICAGO -- A joint-venture partnership of two local restaurant and catering operators is planning a major array of foodservice operations for Millennium Park, a $370 million public attraction that is being described as Chicago's answer to New York's Rockefeller Center.

The partners, Blue Plate Catering and Mainstay LLC, an investment group headed by Matthew O'Malley, managing partner of the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, beat out some 10 other national and local operators for the Millennium Park contract. By this fall or early winter they intend to open the indoor restaurant and cafe, which O'Malley is comparing in scale to Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park.

Chicago city officials and park benefactors are predicting that the year-round Millennium Park attractions are destined to become hallmarks of one of the most magnificent public spaces in the world. The 25-acre downtown park, on the east side of Michigan Avenue, is scheduled to open in phases over the next three years.

A variety of foodservice venues will accent attractions that include a 100-foot-high band shell and amphitheater designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, with outdoor fixed and lawn seating for more than 11,000 people. The park also will boast a 1,500-seat performing-arts center, a 100-ton elliptical-shaped outdoor sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor, a year-round garden and a winter ice- skating rink.

O'Malley expects Park Grill, the only full-service restaurant in the park, and an adjacent carryout cafe and retail shop will be open in time for this year's Christmas party season and other end-of-the-year events.

The 300-seat, upscale-casual Park Grill will specialize in regional American cuisine and have per-person check averages of about $22 for dinner and $12 for lunch. It will be designed to appeal to families and diners of all ages.

Among the other foodservice operations will be seasonal outdoor seating over the ice rink, portable carts and many catered events throughout the park. The Chicago Park District was the agency that awarded the contract.

"It's the opportunity of a life-time," O'Malley said. "It will be our version of Tavern on the Green and Rockefeller Center. We think Millennium Park will be a tremendous addition to the city with worldwide recognition."

O'Malley's Chicago Firehouse restaurant, located in a historic former fire station south of the downtown Loop, is a 2-year-old, fine-dining restaurant that also features comfort foods. Mayor Richard Daley, who lives nearby, sometimes is seen dining in the restaurant.

Blue Plate Catering operates Rhapsody, a fine-dining restaurant in Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and has catering contracts for some 50 other area locations, including the Field Museum and the Chicago Historical Society.

City officials expect Millennium Park to become downtown Chicago's second-largest destination, following the Navy Pier festival marketplace. The park's 2,181-space underground parking garage now is fully operational.

Private donors are contributing more than $100 million toward funding the park's special attractions, while the city is contributing at least $270 million, to be funded by the garage's parking revenues and tax increment financing.