Get out your datebooks—you only have a couple of months left to visit L2O (2300 N. Lincoln Park West, Lincoln Park, 773-868-0002). The Michelin-starred seafood jewel of the Lettuce Entertain You empire will have its final night of service December 31.
There aren’t a lot of details yet as to the future of the space, though Lettuce elder statesman Rich Melman says it will stay under his umbrella and undergo a lighter, brighter makeover. In addition to a renaming and reconcepting, the intricate, expensive tasting menus of L2O will be swapped for comparatively more affordable fare.
And Melman says his relationship with chef Matthew Kirkley isn’t over, either. “I wanted him to do two years at L2O, then I wanted to do a [different] restaurant with him. And three years have passed.” Kirkley will oversee the new venture in the L2O space, and he and Melman are discussing other possibilities as well. Melman is shooting to open the project by the middle or end of January.
More details are to come, of course, but for now, Melman will just say that he thinks the spot’s future is “pretty exciting.”