All good things must eventually come to an end, or so they say. This adage was proven true, when, after months of speculation, the Altamarea Group released an official statement last week confirming that Chef Michael White and longtime partner, Chris Cannon were officially cutting ties. Then again, Cannon is no stranger to divorces from high-profile chefs, as one need only look back to 2007's messy split with Scott Conant. In fact, the news was a bit ironic, considering it was Cannon who selected White to replace the departing Conant at the former L'Impero restaurant, which was later reincarnated as Convivio. As per the details of the breakup, it was reported that White and new business partner, Ahmass Fakahany, will take Marea, Osteria Morini and the newly-opened, Ai Fiori, while Cannon will retain Alto and Convivio. As with any divorce, there are the children to consider, and in this case, White will bring aboard Alto's chef de cuisine, Gordon Finn, as well as Convivio's current chef de cuisine, Matt Adler, while pastry chef, Heather Bertinetti will continue to work with Cannon. So it seemed perfectly natural at the time of our reservation (pre-announcement), to wonder whether any of the speculated turmoil would compromise our experience at Convivio in the slightest.
