Bryce Caron Out at Blackbird

Award-winning pastry chef Bryce Caron via starchefs.com

Here's the bombshell of the week:

An Ultimate Insider tells 312DD that pastry chef Bryce Caron is no longer at Blackbird. This comes as a surprise because Caron was recently named Best Pastry Chef in the Midwest by Food & Wine editors.

UPDATE: Whoa. Eater got an interview with Caron, who said he was told by Blackbird's owners he "just wasn't a fit." Ouch.

Notes From . . .

Chefs Gilles Epié (left) and Martial Noguier (Photos: Isabelli Media Relations Photography)

. . . Chicago's Culinary Crossroads at Bistronomic.

• To celebrate the nations represented during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, the Illinois Restaurant Association hosts the first-ever Chicago's Culinary Crossroads through May 25.

• As part of the initiative, chefs from visiting nations teamed up with executive chefs from a number of high-profile Chicago restaurants for special menus.

• At Bistronomic, chef Martial Noguier reunited with Gilles Epié, the chef/owner of the Michelin-starred Restaurant Citrus Etoile in Paris. The Frenchmen worked together in the early 1990s.

What You Want: PQM Burgers & More

A juicy look at the Publican Quality Meats' signature burger. (Photo: Publican Quality Meats)

Watch out for the mega commotion outside Milk & Honey Cafe between 6-10pm Monday. That's when Publican Quality Meats conducts a "test run" of its new Burgers, Bourbon & Beer program that's slated for Tuesdays at the West Loop spot beginning June 5.

In the meantime, Monday's event features chefs Justin Large (Big Star) and John Manion (La Sirena Clandestina) slinging burgers. Here's the menu of what to expect during the preview event: