Palace Coup!
New Chef For Le Cirque space.
The New York Palace hotel is close to announcing a new ringmaster for the space vacated by Le Cirque nine months ago. According to a restaurant-industry source, the new chef will be . . . drumroll . . . Paul Liebrandt ! He earned three stars at Atlas with his quirky dishes like scallops with chocolate and eel with watermelon before spending more than a year on his own project on Morton Square. But that deal fell through at the end of 2003. “The landlord was too difficult,’’ says Liebrandt. Since then, he has been a private chef and a consultant to Café Luxembourg. As for the Palace, “I can’t talk about it.’’ After a somewhat tumultuous relationship with Le Cirque, the hotel, owned by the royal family of Brunei, is going to operate the restaurant itself this time. Meanwhile, Le Cirque is reopening at 1 Beacon Court this winter.
—Beth Landman