Shaun Hergatt Joins ESquared, Will Open Restaurant Juni

By James Mulcahy

Shaun Hergatt recently announced his departure from his namesake restaurant in the Financial District and last week, word leaked that he was joining the ESquared Hospitality Group as Executive Chef, which operates eateries like BLT Steak and Casa Nonna. What was missed in those announcements is that he will get his own restaurant as part of the deal. Dubbed Juni, the new eatery will open in the first quarter of 2013. The eatery's name is latin for the month of June, and it will be located in Midtown East's Hotel Chandler. This should be exciting for fans of Hergatt, who feel that he never got the chance to truly shine in that strange dining room downtown. The 50-seat, fine-dining restaurant will focus on the seasons, using local produce and seasonal ingredients - the chef will also develop a number of other concepts for the ESquared group, hitting a variety of price points. Looking forward to see what he has in store.