Line Hotel Pushes Chicago’s Brothers and Sisters Cafe to Change Its Name

There isn’t enough room between D.C. and Chicago for two Brothers and Sisters restaurants, at least in the minds of Sydell Group’s lawyers.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the ownership group of the Line hotel, the Adams Morgan venue that houses Erik Bruner-Yang’s essential lobby-level restaurant, sent a cease-and-desist letter to an unaffiliated cafe and wine shop operating under the same name in the West Town area of Chicago. Open only since December, that Brothers and Sisters will change its name to All Together Now in April.

“Despite feeling that we have a strong claim to use the name, we’re going to use our efforts and energies to make the business better, rather than fighting it out in court,” co-owner Erin Carlman Weber tells the Trib.

Both restaurants have generated buzz with big names in their respective towns.

Bruner-Yang opened D.C.’s Brothers and Sisters in December 2017, about a year before its Chicago counterpart, with talented pastry chef Pichet Ong and barman Todd Thrasher (Tiki TNT, PX) behind him. A West-meets-East menu full of knife-cut noodles, octopus hot dogs, and takoyaki hushpuppies quickly gained a following.

Carlman Weber, a veteran of Iron Chef Stephanie Izard’s restaurants in Chicago, partnered with Madison, Wisconsin, chef Jonny Hunter — who has been nominated for James Beard Awards four times — to open a cafe full of charcuterie, cheeses, and small plates.

• New Brothers and Sisters restaurant changing name to All Together Now after cease-and-desist letter [EDC]
• A Beard-Nominated Chef and Friends Open a New All-Day Cafe in West Town [EC]
• West Town’s New All-Day Cafe and Bottle Shop Debuts on Wednesday [EC]’
• Erik Bruner-Yang’s Brothers and Sisters Is Now Open in D.C. [E]
• D.C. Diners Embrace Sexy Cool Brothers and Sisters [EDC]