Following the messy departure last month of Osteria Elisir's chef de cuisine and general manager, the modernist-minded Enzo Fargione has found his next kitchen leader in an unexpected place: the downtown location of Chef Geoff's, part of the family-friendly American chain owned by Geoff Tracy.
Fargione likes Crenshaw's experience not only at Chef Geoff's but also with Capital Restaurant Concepts (where he was executive chef at Georgia Brown's and Paolo's). Fargione says Crenshaw is used to high-volume and high-pressure kitchens; his organizational skills are excellent. Crenshaw also has the culinary chops, Fargione notes, and the Elisir owner plans to teach Crenshaw what he doesn't yet know about Italian cooking.
"He started this week and he's familiarizing with our concept," Fargione says. It's a "race against time for Tom who is eager to learn and to dive into this new venture."
Why the race against time? Osteria Elisir plans to change to its fall and winter menus in 10 days.