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Articles about As the Restaurant Turns

Avner Samuel Teams Up With Bailey’s Prime Plus

I’m on the phone chatting with Avner (Nosh Euro Bistro, Snack)  Samuel about his new gig at Bailey’s Prime Plus when the press release hits my inbox: “BAILEY’S PRIME PLUS TEAMS UP WITH LOCAL CELEBRITY CHEF AVNER SAMUEL” He’s been hired to take it from a steakhouse to a chef-driven restaurant.

“Dallas is saturated with steak houses,” Samuel said. “Jon [Stevens] and I were approached to do some consulting at Bailey’s at NorthPark. Obviously the restaurant has some culinary issues and I am starting an interim menu tonight.”

Under Samuel and Stevens direction, Bailey’s will feature lower-priced appetizers, salads, and seafood dishes. “They are dishes you don’t normally see in a steakhouse and are more family friendly. Especially the prices.” Samuel has moved chef Ryan (Lazare, Redfork) from Nosh over to be the chef at Bailey’s. Samuel and Stevens will be in the kitchen tonight and this week.

I asked Samuel how far the partnership with Bailey will go. Will Bailey put money into Avner’s company? Will Avner save the kitchen at The Chesterfield (apparently the kitchen staff walked out on Friday night)? “I really don’t know what’s happening there. I think it’s funny as hell. It [chefs walking out] happens all of the time I remember a similar fight at the Mansion 30 years ago. We’ll see how this goes. If I am asked to help I would consider it, but right now all I’ve been asked to do is NorthPark and so I am concentrating on NorthPark as a consultant. For now, it’s one thing at a time.”

Owner Ed Bailey has also hired Cristy Rather, Mark  Lindberg, and Ken Kuczwaj from Bob’s Steak and Chophouse. However, former Bob, Bob Sambol, is not involved with Bailey’s.

posted by Nancy Nichols | April 30th, 2012 11:08am | filed under As the Restaurant Turns | 22 Comments »

Can You Name This Restaurant?

Photo taken Sunday April, 29th, 2012 in Dallas.

posted by Andrew Chalk | April 30th, 2012 9:00am | filed under Andrew Chalk, As the Restaurant Turns, Steakhouses, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Grant Morgan is No Longer Chef at Bailey’s Prime Plus

A couple of weeks ago, Andrew Chalk told me Grant Morgan had left his post at Bailey’s Prime Plus. I emailed Morgan and never heard back from him. Turns out he has been traveling out of the country. Chalk also reports former Bob’s GM, Ken Kuczwaj in now GM at Bailey’s Park Lane location along with some of the servers at Bob’s. His job is to put butts in empty seats. Chalk predicts Michael Ehlert, the chef owner Ed Bailey hired to get The Chesterfield up and running, will become the executive chef of a new high-end modern French restaurant backed by Bailey  later this year. (Isn’t his lease at HPV Patrizio up this year?) Meanwhile, there’s a job opening for an executive chef at Bailey’s Prime Plus.

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 29th, 2012 9:06am | filed under As the Restaurant Turns | 2 Comments »

What Restaurant or Cuisine Does Dallas Need?

Yes, it’s a slow news day but that doesn’t mean we can’t make some up. We spend a lot of time talking pros and cons of the cuisines available in Dallas so let’s put some effort into daydreaming about new ideas. If you could move one restaurant here, which one would it be? If you could bolster the profile of one cuisine, what would it be? I don’t know if you consider hot dogs a cuisine, but I’d love to see, for lack of a better term, gourmet hot dog and sausage restaurants with great beer lists and inventive side dishes and salads. Also, soup! Hot or cold. Okay, your turn. Go.

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 20th, 2012 10:18am | filed under As the Restaurant Turns, Making Up Is Hard To Do, restaurant business news | 58 Comments »

NOSH: Finally!

Photography by Desiree Espada

I think I may be the last person in Dallas to dine at NOSH Euro Bistro. There was a wine dinner at Nosh in Dallas, and I was fortunate to have a media invite. That meant that I got to sit at the counter at the front of the kitchen. I had a cockpit seat into the pandemonium and work that is a meal of this size. Here is some of the action as the team served the diners (every seat sold, and a waiting list, BTW!):

Believe me, you’ll want to jump for some serious food photography by Desiree Espada. (more…)

posted by Andrew Chalk | February 24th, 2012 9:00am | filed under Andrew Chalk, As the Restaurant Turns, Bacon, Desiree Espada, Restaurant News | 5 Comments »

Dirtiest Restaurants in Dallas: The Magic Time Machine

It's not a beautiful day in this neighborhood.

I did not go to The Magic Time Machine for haute cuisine. When I packed up a good portion of my family, including three kids, and headed to the popular restaurant known for servers dressed as Peter Pan, Superman, or Jack Sparrow, I had no expectations of getting a decent meal even though the prices for entrees run from $13 to $23.99.  I did expect to dine in a safe and clean environment. Or at least a restaurant that was not so filthy it caused my 12-year old niece to turn to me, dirty fork in hand, and say, “Uncle Nancy, I think you should write about how dirty this place is.”

We walked in at 5:43PM on Sunday night. We were greeted by the stench of stale air. It was like walking into an old house without windows: the smell of musky furniture combined with lingering cigarette smoke trapped inside for years. The dark carpet was littered with bits of paper (toilet?) and napkins. Nobody had bothered to vacuum between shifts (days?). I spotted a plastic Gerber baby food container tucked behind a round light to the right side of the front door. The contents were dried and cracked. As I watched my 3-year old nephew run down the short hallway, I noticed a lamp cord connected to an extension cord lying perilously on the rug about a foot from the wall.

Do a shot of Pepto Bismol and jump hard.

(more…)

posted by Nancy Nichols | January 24th, 2012 10:38am | filed under As the Restaurant Turns, Cult Cuisine, Dirty Restaurants in Dallas, Kids Kritics, Restaurant News, Reviews, restaurant business news | 43 Comments »

New Winter Menu at Bailey’s Prime Plus

Bailey's Prime Plus Execuchef Grant Morgan

Execuchef Grant Morgan and sommelier Jennifer Jaco have settled in to their relatively new jobs at Bailey’s Prime Plus. Earlier this week, Bailey’s held a media dinner at their Park Lane location to showcase their new winter menu and tell us about enhancements to the wine program.

The wine program enhancements are exciting. The number of selections on offer has doubled from 300 to over 600 and Jaco is now building a series of ‘verticals’  (i.e. several vintages of the same wine) to offer depth as well as breadth. These numbers are in the ballpark for receiving a ‘Best of Award of Excellence’ certification from Wine Spectator magazine. There are only 907 restaurants in the world with this designation or better (and only 5 in Dallas) so it confers considerable prestige. The other side of the wine program is the acquisition of some interesting bottles from ‘off the wall’ places. She served us some with the meal (more on that below). The bottom line is that Bailey’s is serious about the quality of their wine program.

Jump for the bounties of winter. (But first a juicy tidbit: Jennifer Jaco is the girlfriend of Michael Ehlert, the chef Ed Bailey lured from DBGB Kitchen & Bar in New York. I spotted Ehlert in the kitchen at Bailey’s where he’s busy testing his menu for the soon-to-open The Chesterfield.) Okay, let’s eat. (more…)

posted by Andrew Chalk | December 9th, 2011 10:12am | filed under Andrew Chalk, As the Restaurant Turns, Poor World Series Performance Cost CJ Wilson $25 Million!, Restaurant News, Sommeliers are people too | 2 Comments »