Rodelio Aglibot, whom Chicagoans know as the chef at Sunda, has moved to New York to become one of two executive corporate chefs of the BLT Restaurant Group. Aglibot, along with Christophe Bellanca, will oversee the menus of the group’s 18 restaurants, including the 11 BLT Steaks, the many-starred steak houses that launched the chain. Aglibot will remain as a consulting chef at Sunda, which will keep his menu and kitchen team.
The chefs’ purview will also include the group’s first Chicago location, The Florentine, which was announced in January and is now scheduled to open in mid-October at a new Loop hotel (JW Marriott, 151 W. Adams St.; no phone yet). The menu will have an Italian influence, as the name suggests, and a $60 per person check average, according to Katherine Bryant Flaherty, a BLT spokeswoman.
Foodwise, Aglibot and Bellanca replace Laurent Tourondel, who parted ways with BLT in March, despite having his initials in the group’s name—it stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Not that we’ve heard anything definite, but we’re guessing they’re not changing the name to BRA.