Details Emerge on Jen Carroll's NYC Restaurant

Philly expat Jennifer Carroll is busy getting her debut restaurant, Concrete Blonde, open for business in NYC. In the meantime, Carroll chatted up the Philly Post and dished a little bit about where she planned to open the restaurant locally, and why she had to go up north.

Carroll and her backers originally had a deal in place to take over the Marathon Grill at 13th and Chestnut, but there was a power struggle that resulted in the whole deal falling apart. After working in other people's kitchens for so long, Carroll wanted to have complete control over the project, and her investors disagreed.

Shortly thereafter, chef friend and former boyfriend, Michael Wurster, had to pass on a project in NYC, and suggested Carroll step in. Both the investor and Carroll agreed on the terms of the deal, and they're on the way to opening the 84-seat restaurant, which will open sometime in 2013. Carroll knows that whether or not she was on Top Chef, the success rides on her talents. "The food has to be fucking amazing," she says. "I need to live up to it. If not, it's my fault."

· Jennifer Carroll Dishes on her NYC Restaurant [Official]
· All Jen Carroll Coverage [~EPHI~]