TOM means business.
AP Photo

by Julia Bainbridge

Chefs just want to have fun. At least this was the tune being sung by Tom Colicchio this morning at his Craft restaurant in New York. Starting October 14, Craft's private dining room will become TOM: Tuesday Dinner, a 32-seat, farm-to-table restaurant serving tasting menus based on the greenmarket--and Tom's mood. Because he'll actually be there; not expediting, not calling the shots while leaning against the walk-in with arms folded and brows furrowed--he'll be cooking, over a hot stove.

Does this return to the line mark the end of the so-called celebrity chef's reign? Quite the contrary. He's at the point where he can make his Top Chef production team clear his schedule every other Tuesday for the next year, he has appointed various staffers to take the helms at his gazillion other Craftspots, and now, he just wants to cook. (For the record, Tom's not a fan of the aforementioned term: "Celebrity chef; I hate that word.") 

The cost of TOM's set-price menu will range from $150 to $250 per person, depending on the ingredients sourced for each dinner. Colicchio says the menu will both speak to his new culinary cravings and resurrect dishes he used to create for Mondrian and Gramercy Tavern. Think squab with honey-glazed onions and black licorice root, and his famous sea urchin/crab ragout. Reservations are accepted up to six weeks in advance--and the phone lines open today.

Further reading:
* For reservations at TOM: Tuesday Dinner, call Elena Silva at 212 400 6495
* The "restaurant" Web site will launch in a week, so wait until then to hit tomtuesdaydinner.com
* Check out Colicchio's other restaurants
* And here, his own blog (from last season) as Bravo's Top Chef judge numero uno