Bice at the Victor Hotel (Hyatt)
Food & Beverages - Chicago, Illinois, United States
Bice at the Victor Hotel (Hyatt) Employees
Bice at the Victor Hotel (Hyatt) Details
The menu was and still is a skillful mix of traditional and newer trends in Italian cuisine. Bice Ruggeri's unique style of hospitality is regarded as a key to Bice New York's continuous success at this location during the past decade. Bice's USA operational headquarters is located in Manhattan, near the restaurant. Bice New York opened to top reviews from food critics and patrons alike. It also provided Roberto with an opportunity, a -clinic,- to gain first-hand knowledge of American customer preferences. He found similarities with European patrons, but also differences he would address before opening in other American cities. Bice Chicago opened in 1989, followed by Bice Palm Beach and Bice Washington D.C. With its U.S. locations established, the family focused in 1989 on international opportunities. Between 1989 and 1996, Bice locations were opened under joint ventures and licensing agreements in Paris, Tokyo, London, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Seoul, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Sao Paul. New -Cafe Med- concept responds to America's new, casual dining preference. In the early 1990s, as Americans, particularly those outside the major cities, opted for a more casual dining experience, Roberto Ruggeri responded with a new concept. Called Cafe Med, it combined a moderate-price point with a stylish, Mediterranean-looking interior. The first Cafe Med opened in 1992 in Miami, at Coconut Grove, and was as successful as Bice had been in New York. It has maintained superior sales since its inception, and features a casual pizza-pasta-salad menu, a cafe and authentic Italian ice creams and sweets. Strong traffic and sales validated the viability of the new concept, and in the summer of 1993, Roberto revamped what was then the Bice restaurant in Beverly Hills, re-opening it as a Cafe Med on Sunset Plaza in West Hollywood. Cafe Med Sunset proved to be the right formula for this market and quickly became the talk of the town.
