UPITTY DATE: Beck is still in the kitchen until the end of September.

UPITTY UPDATE: ” Wow! You work fast lady!! Yes I have resigned from Central 214,” Beck said. “I am leaving to go work on a personal project. I will be at Central 214 until September 30th. I am still doing my cooking class!”

The question remains: can the food still hold its own? Is this place still worthy of the early buzz once surrounding RedFork’s opening?  The answer, my friends, is a resounding yes.

Carbery vows to keep the menu fresh, constantly changing with the seasons and availability of local ingredients.  However, I pray there is one item that sticks around for a bit, the Rigatoni Bolognese.  Rarely does a pasta dish speak to me like this one did.  Perfectly al dente pasta swims in a succulent sofrito of tomato, onion and carrot.  A savory blend of ground pork shoulder and veal is heaped upon the bed of pasta.  The entire dish is then gently decorated with rosemary, sage, and pecorino cheese.  Truly, this dish is a beauty to behold. From the first bite, I found myself oddly protective of my food, fearing beyond all reason that my dining companions would dare ask for a taste.  Parting with any bite of my sweet pasta would have been more than this fragile heart could stand.

To be honest, I could go on about a number of fantastic items on Carbery’s new menu.  The ever-changing “Snout to Tail” trio of pork dishes, the dainty charcuterie and cheese boards, the drool-inducing fudge brownie with bruleed banana.  Sources also tell me the brunch menu holds some of the finest blueberry ricotta pancakes this side of the Trinity.  Not to mention (and I realize this statement has been made half-a-million times) they produce one of the finest bacon cheeseburgers in the city.  And I know you love a good burger.

If Redfork is the beginning of the culinary facelift coming to the humble Fitzhugh, we have a lot to look forward to.  Go now, and partake.

Putting an offer in on a space in Napa and a house all at the same time!

Does this mean that this former Top Chef contender from Fort Worth is permanently leaving the prairie for the vine-covered hillsides of Northern California? That she won’t be guest-mixing margaritas behind the Brownstone bar for much longer? Granted, the house she put an offer in on could be here in town, but it’s vague enough to have us guessing.

We’ve got calls out. Stay tuned for updates!

UPITTY DATE: Here’s the short answer to the question: Rosa Mexicano is NOT moving into the Palomino space.  Turns out my both of my sources were wrong. (Today.) The Palomino space “isn’t technically available” said a person close to the business who swore he/she would slash my tires if I identified him/her. “However, we are looking at many different wonderful restaurants.” If you have a degree in reading between the lines, advance to go and collect $200. Oh, and to my friend who heard it from a friend: thanks for the lie, a whisper, and a knife in my back.

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Pyles does the TwitterBug in Buffalo Gap earlier this spring.

I spent the whole weekend in front of my computer. That doesn’t mean I was working the whole time—I should have been—but a lot of the time I performed many other important tasks such as checking updates on TMZ, Facebook, and “the fightin’ SideDish followers” on Twitter.

Anywhoo, two names kept popping up in my Twitter @box: @chefpyles (as in Stephan) and @beyondthekit (chef David Gilbert. Remember him!). They were in Santa Fe together and eating all over town. Now, I wasn’t born yesterday,  I was born 21,389 days ago, so I have a little experience in predicting what the mischievous behavior of these two chefs means. I’m feeling bold enough to predict Pyles has a new restaurant in the works and he’s grooming David Gilbert to be his chef. Perhaps the Southwestern will rise again! But that’s just me. I could be wrong. It’s happened.

UPPITY DATE: “False-ish,” Hage said. She has been asked to “explore a menu refresh.” The gig is only for a week.

From Green Room’s Facebook page on Jan 12:

Contrary to Nancy Nichols’ uninformed rumor mongering, the Green Room is not closed. We will reopen Tuesday, January 18th with a new menu and new wine list for the new year.

Shawn Horne and Flynn Dekker

Last week I received a copy of confidential memo sent from a prominent restaurant CEO to a local restaurateur. The thrust of the message? “Please consider Shawn Horne if you need a professional upscale restaurant leader. Shawn has worked with many of the most talented people in the industry and brings a inspiring record or achievement.”

Does this mean the end of Horne & Dekker? Or just the Horne part of Horne & Dekker? I e-mailed Shawn and asked him what was happening. He says:

Yes, I am looking to consult on something, or even create a position with a firm that opens, trains, and manages new restaurants. I am still involved with Horne and Dekker. But the challenge of operating a dinner only with a brunch service restaurant fades. We are very happy with the restaurant and it is doing very well. I am looking for a new challenge. I love opening new concepts and have been very successful in this field.

I didn’t report this last week because I felt it was non news. However, several other people have told me they’ve seen the memo and word on the street is that Horne is ready to move on. So, in a rare move of anti-rumormonger-itis, I present Shawn’s official declaration.

Will Bob Sambol have a steak in Mike Modano’s Hully & Mo? Who knows. (Thanks SI for the photo)

As the economy continues to kill restaurants, it also fuels the fires beneath the ever-burning rumor mill. One reason why so many stories are flying all over town is simple economics–as restaurants close, the supply of available restaurant real estate increases. Couple that with curious restaurateurs looking for a bargain or just checking out possibilities, and sparks fly.

While some entrepreneurs are seriously searching for deals, others may just be kicking grease traps and fantasizing. (Restaurant real estate porn if you will.)  No matter, once anyone has poked around a few locations, the phone and e-mail lines light up like a modern day version of this.

Late yesterday, a juicy tale flowed my way. Word on the street: Bob Sambol,founder of Bob’s Steak and Chop House on Lemmon, was leaving to reconcept Hully & Mo at the Quadrangle. My source said the deal was “so done” they ‘d already picked a new name: Legends. Made sense to me—real estate mogul and owner of Hully & Mo, Tim Headington, is a Bob’s customer and friend of Sambol’s as is Mike “Mo” Modano.

I called Bob Sambol. “Hey, tell me about Legends,” I said right off the bat (at the drop of the  puck). “Huh? What are you taking about?” said Sambol. “You know, your new restaurant. You’re taking over Hully & Mo and changing the name to Legends,” I said.

“I’m still here at Bob’s and business is really good,” said Sambol.”We’ve made a lot of changes and things are going really well. Our new wine guy, Ken Kuczwaj, is doing some great stuff. The people here at Bob’s have been great to me.”

Hmm. He certainly went into auto-mode awfully quick. I went for the neutral zone trap.”So, you have no idea what I’m talking about, ” I said.  ”Well, yeah, I talked to them [Headington],” said Sambol. “They need some help. I’ve looked around. I’ve looked at  Silver Fox [Centrum]. That place is immaculate. You could reopen it in 10 days. But my next restaurant is not going to be a steak place, it’s going to be a real New York Italian restaurant. I’m only looking now because I am curious and people call me every day with possibilities.”

Perhaps Headington and Mo (donde esta Hully in all of this?) will change the Hully & Mo concept without Sambol. After all, Modano seems to be headed to Detroit to play and Headington & Hully isn’t sexy.  (Note to Mr. Headington, please don’t call it Legends. It doesn’t make me hungry or thirsty. It makes me think of strippers. However, “Modano’s” entices me to be all three.)

Anywhoo, I did “learn” one thing from rooting around  yesterday:  former Houston-turned-Dallas-turned Houston restaurateur Joey Vallone “has signed” a lease on the space formerly known as The Club in the Centrum. Remember Joey’s? It used to be in the space now occupied by Al Biernat’s. Joey is quite a character. Which reminds me, where in the hell is Matthew Antonovich? He never opened his restaurant in Louisville.

Stay tuned for another episode of As the Restaurants Turn.

William Koval does Golf Cuisine? Veal shank? Dog legs? Club sandwich?

The French Room at the Hotel Adolphus has had its ups and downs over the years. During chef William Koval’s 12-year reign in the kitchen, the food served in the gorgeous rococo dining room was superb. He guided the iconic eatery at the Hotel Adolphus back into the national spotlight. He left in 2005. And while the French Room is still hanging on, there is talk under the tables that if the economy doesn’t rebound faster than Moses Malone, the space will undergo a big change. Money talks and rococo walks.

Anywhoo, back to Koval. He headed to Seattle in 2005 but was talked back to Dallas by Lucian LaBarba, president of FreshPoint Dallas. In fact LaBarba, a member of Lakewood Country Club, persuaded Koval to head up the club’s kitchen.  Golf writer Curt Sampson met Koval and wrote a nice story on him. Read it here.