Articles for March 8th, 2011

Chef Stefano Secchi Trades In His Knives For A Camera

posted by Hayley Hamilton | March 8th, 2011 3:13pm | filed under Chefs | 2 Comments »

If you haven’t seen the handsome, eldest son of Jane and Francesco Secchi around the kitchen of their Addison or Grapevine restaurants, Ferrari’s Italian Villa, recently it is because he has moved to Los Angeles to follow his dream of becoming a film maker.  The Secchis did raise a bright boy though, as he is doing it right.  Though the New York Culinary Institute of America trained Chef wants to be behind the camera he is taking acting classes during the day to learn actor behavior, and working nights at Mario Batali’s Osteria Mozza to pay the bills.  And it is starting to pay off.

Jump for the whole story. Continue reading "Chef Stefano Secchi Trades In His Knives For A Camera"

2 Comments »

Let’s Discuss: When is it Too Early to Review a New Restaurant on the Web?

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 8th, 2011 10:21am | filed under Restaurant News, Reviews | 49 Comments »

Yesterday Sarah Reiss posted a First Take Review of Sutra, Vijay Sadu’s new contemporary Indian food spot in Plano. Last night I received an email from a colleague in the food writing business. The note reads:

It would seem that if the first outing so soon after opening was that bad, someone would have the grace to give him a chance to get things together…It seems really out of line for a publication of D’s reputation to do such a hatchet  job two weeks after a place opens, no matter what the web demands.

First, a short explanation. First Take is a segment Sarah writes for our website, not SideDish or D Magazine. A First Take review is different from a D Magazine review where we go back several times over the course of how ever long it takes to get a feel for what is going on in the new restaurant. Today the review rotated to the SideDish site.

If you are a regular reader of SideDish, you know that we have written many posts about Sutra. Andrew Chalk reported on a friends and family dinner, a preview a week before it opened, and he was the first to announce opening night (Feb.15).

A week later I noticed mixed reviews from followers on the SideDish Twitter feed (DSideDish).

Let’s get to the point: Has the web changed the rules on a publication’s web or blog pages? Are blog reviews replacing magazine or newspaper reviews? If people are walking into restaurants and announcing they are Yelper’s or Foodie’s and demanding extras, I think we can say the axis has made a dangerous shift.

Put in your ear plugs, put on your eyeshades, and let’s decide where to put the cork.  Discuss.

49 Comments »

Sadly, Restaurant Veteran Vijay Sadhu’s Solo Voyage Founders in Plano

posted by Sarah Reiss | March 8th, 2011 9:30am | filed under Openings/Closings, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 14 Comments »

The interior of Vijay Sadhu's Sutra in Plano's Shops at Legacy.

We want Vijay Sadhu’s Sutra to succeed; really, we do. We were big fans of his work at Samar, at Clay Pit, and, before that, at Bukhara Grille. For this new venture, leaks about his Goan inspiration and his vision for a Portuguese-Indian fusion have had the blogs buzzing for months. That being the case, it pains us to write what must be written about our experience there this week.

click here to read the whole First Take review…

14 Comments »