J.P. Challet leaves the Windsor Arms (for the third time)

The partnership between chef J.P. Challet and the Windsor Arms has come to an end…again. Last spring, Challet closed up Ici Bistro and transplanted the popular Harbord Street spot, along with its French fare, into the swanky hotel. Now, after seven months as the executive chef for Ici by J.P. Challet, Challet has called it quits. In a press release, Challet said he has left the Windsor Arms, citing a “divergence in vision” between himself and the hotel. George Friedmann, the owner and president of the Windsor Arms, confirms that Challet chose to leave and that the hotel’s restaurant is now serving guests from a “new comprehensive menu that features components of previous menus” (including some selections from Challet’s French bistro-style menu). Meanwhile, Challet himself is taking a one-month leave (in France, naturally) to “recharge his batteries” and “come back to something he feels great about attaching his name to.” Our guess is that the “something” won’t be the Windsor Arms, but it seems the history between these two does have a way of repeating (three-peating?) itself.