Food and Drinq

Eric Ripert, high hat at New York's Le Bernardin, dropped in Tuesday 1/22 to introduce the chef de cuisine of his newest restaurant, 10 Arts by Eric Ripert. Opens this spring (May?) in the rotunda of the historic building that houses the Ritz-Carlton. Hence the hard hats.

She's a Philly girl, Jennifer Carroll, 33. Grew up in the city's Somerton section -- stay-at-home mom Jean and race-car owner dad Ray -- and went to Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown, as her Mountie classmates (1993) are proud to point out.

She went to the Catholic University in D.C. to study law, came home to St, Joe's, and decided to try culinary school instead. She's a grad of the Restaurant School here, followed by time in the Manayunk kitchens of Derek Davis at Sonoma and Arroyo Grille. After a year downtown at the late Avenue B, she escaped to San Francisco, where she worked at restaurants Julia (now closed) and Café Kati. She's sous chef at Le Bernardin, basically the No. 3 in one of the top-rated kitchens in North America.

Ripert told me that he sensed she was ready to head her own kitchen in January 2007 at her annual review. "She said, 'No, no. I'm not ready,' " he said, calling her "tough, when she needs to be." Her crew calls her "Jenny."

Concept at 10 Arts will be American cuisine with an emphasis on the organic and utilization of products from local farmers. The restaurant will have an "approachable" price point. "Le Bernardin, scaled down," says Carroll.