CHICAGO-Graham Elliot, a Seattle-born celebrity chef with two restaurants downtown, now wants to open five burger joints in the city. He’s hired CB Richard Ellis to find him locations in the downtown for his Grahamburger concept.
Elliot opened his first namesake restaurant a few years ago in River North, and opened the sandwich shop Grahamwich at 615 N. State, in the Tree Studio Building, in December 2010. Formerly known as Graham Elliot Bowles, the chef is also a judge on Fox Network’s MasterChef. “We want to populate the world with Grahamburgers, which will be a local, affordable spot,” said Elliot in a statement.
A CBRE spokeswoman says Elliot is looking to open up to five Grahamburger sites in the next 12-18 months. The concept will feature burgers and spiked milkshakes. Executive chef and concept head Merlin Verrier will develop and execute the strategy, and streamline the future expansion beyond Chicago, said CBRE’s Kim McGuire in a statement.
McGuire, Todd Siegel and Bruce Kaplan will head up the search for Elliot. The brokers did not return calls for comment.
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