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Teresa Gubbins Closes Another Restaurant

This time it is Papou’s Greek Kitchen. The Teegster reports that Papou’s Greek Kitchen and Taverna, Pete Zotos’ Greek restaurant that shared a building with Legal Grounds in Lakewood, has “left the building.” Zotos encourages his loyal customers to visit his other spot, St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin, where he has added chicken-fried tuna to the menu.

Rumormonger Eric Celeste Says The Tipperary Inn in Dallas is Making a Comeback

He sends this rumor report of a rumor.

Lola is Closed: Reports of The Last Supper

Sadly, Lola served its last meal on Saturday night. If you were there, we’d love to hear about your meal. Otherwise, let’s take a moment to “sign their yearbook” as it were. Leave details of your favorite meal or memory of Lola in the comments. This is a great loss for the Dallas dining scene. Van Roberts, you and chef David Uygur and crew created real magic together.

Alberto Lombardi Takes Taverna Pizzeria & Risotteria to Las Colinas

A Great White Pelican just swooped past the office and whispered: “Alberto Lombardi is opening a Taverna Pizzeria & Risotteria in the Las Colinas Village Center.” Birds make the best sources. (And  I saw a lovely flock of white pelicans near Kaufman on Sunday.)

Lazare in West Village is Now Lemmon Bar in West Village

Or maybe Lemon Bar. We’re not too sure. Anyone? Thanks, JB.

Report from TABC: Las Colinas Prime is Closed and Criminal Charges Have Been Filed

Las Colinas Prime is now closed.

Last week when I talked with the TABC about Twisted Vine, I asked Agent Holloway if he knew anything about the ongoing investigation of Las Colinas Prime. He transferred me to Agent Joe Garcia. If you read Costa’s transcript you will remember Agent Garcia. Here is an quick recap and updated status.

In July I reported Republic Restaurant in Las Colinas had changed their name to Las Colinas Prime. In the comments section, readers reported some shady activities going on at LCP. I finally tracked down Michael Costa, the man responsible for running LCP for owner Bill McCrorey, and printed the entire transcript of our conversation.  Costa denied he was arrested by the TABC. When I contacted the TABC, they said otherwise. I sent the transcripts and all of the SideDish posts to the TABC.

Las Colinas Prime is now closed but the investigation into Costa and McCrorey is still open. There is a hearing scheduled for mid-October. The original investigation has spun off in a couple of other directions (health code violations for one) and the whole deal is getting very complicated. Agent Garcia confirmed that criminal charges have been filed against Michael Costa and Bill McCrorey for “possession of an un-invoiced alcoholic beverage.” (Section 28.06 of the law states punishment is “not less than 30 days and not more than 2 years.”) Whether or not they do jail time depends on the judge. Costa was also charged with “evading arrest with the use of a vehicle” which is a “state jail felony.” Agent Garcia says Costa could “go to pen for six months to two years.”

UPDATE: I forgot to copy and paste the rest of the story. According to a police report on filed on September 22, Bill McCrorey’s wife “threatened complainant with death and fired a gun at complainant [Bill]… Threatened to kill complainant and used a firearm and shot at complainant. Complainant was in fear for his life.” (thanks to alert Disher, JW)

Jean-Michel Sakouh Moves His New Restaurant From Downtown to Knox Henderson

Not happening.

Jean-Michel Sakouh made a big deal about his new Jean-Michel’s restaurant in Mercantile Place downtown. According to Christopher “Achatz”  Wynn, Jean-Michel has changed his mind. He scooped up the coveted, albeit ill-fated, Il Sole/Ari’s Wine Bar space on Travis.

Fish Express in Preston Forest is Moving

Hmm, something fishy is going on at Preston Forest Shopping Center. Perhaps there are too many restaurants and not enough customers. (Living up to Tom Colicchio’s assesment of me as a “rumor monger,”  I will whisper that Chic From Barcelona could be next girl out. But that’s just a rumor.) My last count of places to eat at PFSC hovered close to 25. Today Mike Hoque will close Fish Express at Preston Forest and look to reopen at a location near Preston and Northwest Highway. The press release spins:

“With the successful launch of the brand’s second store in Frisco at Warren and Dallas Parkway, owner Mike Hoque saw the potential of being located in a denser destination retail location and decided to pursue a new location in North Dallas. Hoque is looking at locations near Preston and Northwest Highway.”

Whatever. Semantics. The location didn’t work. Denser retail location? How’s West Village working out for you, Lazare?

Avanti Euro Bistro in Addison is Closed

Joanna Cattanach, over at ChickTalk, reports that Avanti Euro  Bistro at Addison Circle has closed.

There’s a lawyers note on the door and all of the materials including napkins and place settings are still locked inside. Even the peppermint dish. The other two locations are still open—for now. Sad to see them closed. They didn’t seem like they had that much business but since Jack Ekhtiar’s death, they (his wife and partner) seemed committed to keeping the location open.

Report From TABC: Twisted Vine is Closed and Charges are About to be Filed

In mid-July a reader wanted to know if anyone in Dishland had experienced problems with Twisted Vine, a wine tasting shop on Greenville and Walnut Hill.  Comments and complaints about Twisted Vine started pouring in. Eventually I contacted the TABC to see if they were looking into the situation. They confirmed there was an investigation underway.

Last week, I spoke with Jeff Gladden, a Lieutenant in the Enforcement Division at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. He said, thanks to SideDish, they have a growing list of victims to interview and Twisted Vine is now closed. A few minutes ago, I got an update on the situation from agent Robert Holloway. He reports that there are one or two more interviews to conduct in the investigation before they take the paperwork to the District Attorney. If you would like to speak with agent Holloway, send me an e-mail.

Cafe Italia Closing This December. No, really.

Delaying plans to close the doors in August as he previously announced, owner Scott Jones is keeping his Tex-Italian restaurant open until the end of the year due to “patron request, holiday parties, and the busy fall season.” Jones has been working on redeveloping the Lovers Lane location into something else but hasn’t announced his plans yet. (Perhaps something southern inspired much like his popular Screen Door in One Arts Plaza?) Anyway, if you’re Jonesing–see what I did there, huh?–for deep-fried smoked chicken lasagna or some proscuitto pepper poppers, chowdown while the chowing is still good. Or open at least.

Voila Bakery In Allen Is Closed

Speaking of  Teresa Gubbins, and feel free to do so below, she is reporting that Voila Bakery in Allen closed two weeks ago. Last Wednesday I dined at Cadot and they made a big deal out of the fact that the French baguette was baked at Voila. Had it been frozen for a while? Didn’t taste like it and even this guy can detect freezer burn on bread. I just spoke with folks at Cadot and they confirmed the bakery is closed and they are looking for another source. Dang.

SideDish Commenter Kirk Has A Great Suggestion For The Mansion

Yesterday, La Brenner broke the news on Eatsblog that Lola and the Tasting Room at Lola will be closing in October. In the comments section, Kirk—the shrewd, insightful, sharp-witted, bicycle-riding dude—posted this:

Posted by Kirk @ 11:59 AM Wed, Aug 05, 2009
I have always respected and admired Van [Roberts] and his incredible staff, and the way he is handling this decision raises my regard for him even more. That said, I am sad to see Dallas lose one of its best restaurants, and a sentimental favorite of ours. I hope everyone involved continues to follow his or her muse, which will lead to their continued success. And I also hope The Mansion takes the impending opportunity to hire the most talented chef [David Uygur] in Dallas.

As usual, nice idea, Kirk. David Uygur would be perfect for the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek’s kitchen. Duncan Graham, this would make your mum happy. And Dallas. And we deserve to be happy.

Van Roberts To Close Lola and the Tasting Room at Lola In October

Leslie “Catch a Falling Star” Brenner has the story. This is a sad day for Dallas dining: after 9 1/2 years, Van Roberts is closing Lola and the Tasting Room at Lola at the end of October. Another victim of the economy. Somebody send him some money, we can’t lose Lola.

Chateau Wine Market Closes Store Front

News came in from Chateau Wine Market on Travis.  The store front is now closed in lieu of operating the retail biz out of the temperature controlled cellars in the cozy Bodega Bar.  This comes on the heels of their sister bar, Ari’s, closing.  Hope the best for Amier and crew.

Bodega Bar with Chateau Wine Market operating out of its temperature controlled cellars is only changing cosmetically and not operationally. This is allowing me to focus more on bringing better tastings and value to our loyal customers. Our temperature controlled cellars are set to give you the best wine experience. Cellar Temperature bottles to consume at our relaxing wine lounge at retail. If I had a complaint about chateau wine market is the space was so large it was almost impossible to keep the inventory under 65 degrees.  I never thought the management company would allow us to split this suite otherwise I would have probably split this suite years ago. New Hours of Operation:  Sunday 2pm-10pm; Monday-Wednesday:12pm-12am; Thursday-Saturday: 12pm-1am

Vern’s Kitchen In Deep Ellum Is Closed

Teresa “Hot Link” Gubbins breaks our hearts and the sad news. Bonathon, I’m looking at you for this.

Ari’s Wine Bistro In Dallas Is Closed

Dang, what does it take to keep that sexy patio overlooking Travis Street open? Well, it’s ready for someone else to move it and try again. Ari’s Wine Bistro upstairs is gone, but downstairs the Chateau Wine Market and Bodega Bar, all under one ownership, are still open.

Normandie Alliance: A Status Update

A couple of weeks ago, “Worzel Gummidge” posted on Dallasfood.org that Normandie Alliance was closing its current location and reopening later in another spot. I linked to the story. Over the weekend, I heard from Christel Perrette of Normandie Alliance who says the cozy French spot will not reopen. She told me a sad tale and I asked her if she wanted to leave word here for her customers. She writes:

Thank you for your offer to give a message to our customers. And especially because we learned that sometimes they don’t receive our emails, without we receive any notice of failure (this is one of the email mysteries).

You can tell them that Normandie Alliance has contacted you. That we explained to you, the “scoop” is wrong. Maybe “Worzel_Gummidge” has just misunderstood, or maybe he is a friend of our landlord, who is the blogger “REDACTED” (this is what we have discovered, as well as it seems that “REDACTED” is his close friend the broker – at this time, we have no proof of that but we suspect it when we read him – as well as “REDACTED” seems to be a friend of him too – because we know very well our regular customers and no one of them would be able to say what he said) and tried by this way to make us confused, to push us to go back to France and never try to sue them for their offenses.

Also you can tell them that we’ve never lied to them and it still be true that we have a good new concept, we would like to do on Belt line (because it won’t be too far for them to come) but as they know it won’t be a Normandie Alliance restaurant, it won’t be a restaurant at all but, as it’s our profession, it would be about food. As we told them, we confirm that before to be able to do it we need first to find an investor and at this time, as we told them, we’ve found nobody.

You can tell them too that we apologize to have been obligated to stop Normandie Alliance in the middle of June, therefore to have been obligated to cancel the cabaret dinner-show on June 27; because we know that as at 2 weeks of it they were already more than 100 people having reserved and looking forward of it. We are so sorry to have disappointed them. As well as we are so sorry for those who told us that they were very shocked to find the notice on the restaurant closed front door because they loved coming there. We’ve enjoyed a lot the time we’ve had with them and hope to find the way to see them again, to share more.

You can confirm them that, now, we are in the process to sue our landlord, the broker and the companie which managed our lease and ready to go until the end of this story whatever we will need to go through, and, at the same time, that we are ready to meet a potential investor for our new concept. But anyway Normandie Alliance it’s over.

You can tell them everything we have written here before or only the part you want, but thank you to be careful and do not change the meaning of what we have written.

Cliff Café at the Belmont Hotel in Dallas Will Close and Reopen in September As…

The management team of the Belmont Hotel has formed a partnership with Bolsa restaurant owners Chris Zielke and Christopher Jeffers, and local chef Tim Byres to develop a new restaurant concept at the boutique hotel in the Cliff Café space. Byres will be the point guard in the kitchen.

Jump for the copied and pasted details.

(more…)

Parigi Takes a Annual Team Parigi Vacation

Three years ago, Parigi closed for a week around the 4th of July. The staff pulled together for a massive remodel. They got so much done and developed such a great team spirit, they decided to make it an annual event.

Starting Friday, July 3, Parigi will close and the staff will take recent input from their customers, employees, and friends, and make some adjustments to the restaurant. They will re-open on July 10th. “We’ve got some fun changes planned this year,” said Chef Chad Hauser. “Here’s a hint: circles, beautiful fabrics, and marble.”

And ice cream. Hauser promises to serve the winning recipe from the Mama Ida Ice Cream Social competition.

Normandie Alliance to Close at the End of the Month. They Will Reopen in Addison in September

That’s the scoop according to Mr. Worzel “Scoop” Gummidge over at Dallasfood.org. (Man that dude eats out a lot.)

UPDATE: Worzel is wrong. Going nowhere. Open.

Fedora Closes In One Arts Plaza

TG’s got the scoop: Gina Campisi’s Italian restaurant Fedora in One Arts Plaza is closed. No answer when I called. Developing.

Republic in Las Colinas and Republic in Uptown Change Names and Concepts

I just got off the phone with Brian Luisi, a nice man at Las Colinas Prime. What is Las Colinas Prime? I’m glad you asked. It’s the new name for the former Republic in Las Colinas, the tapas restaurant turned steakhouse managed by Michael Costa’s Rainmaker Restaurant Group.  Brian also confirmed that Republic’s Uptown location on Hall Street is changing names and menus as well. (Let’s hope it isn’t Las Colinas Prime, that would be weird.)

I have a call into Costa, the man who has been involved in Dallas restaurants such as Toscana, Mediterraneo, Sfuzzi, and Trece. Hmm, interesting isn’t it? Wonder what Park Cities Prime thinks? Will every neighborhood in Dallas soon have a Prime? I sure ask a lot of questions for a girl from Dallas?

Victory Park: La Condesa is Closed

Ace PegNews reporter, pizza lover, and pastry person Teresa Gubbins reports La Condesa is closed. The Mexican restaurant with a large tequila bar in Victory Park is cerrado. No mas. It has ceased to exist.
Owners Donald Chick and Jesse Herman opened a second La Condesa about six months ago. Chick is the dude in the process of opening a new restaurant on Henderson with chef Marc Cassel. Originally, the place was to be called Jones but I think the name is being tweaked to reflect the “California roadhouse with a farm-fresh mentality” menu. Chick may be a good guy, but he is not Sharon Hage’s best friend. I would like to taste Marc Cassel’s food again. Oh, the Green Room.

Scott Jones to Close Café Italia on Lovers Lane

Café Italia, the Tex-Italian restaurant will close in late August. Owner Scott Jones, who is allegedly still involved in the operation of Screen Door in One Arts Plaza, announced today that he will replace Café Italia with a new concept. Café Italia opened on Maple Avenue in 1984. Jones bought it in 2001 and opened the Lovers’ location in 2002. Mr. Jones has rehired Louis Mendes, the man who opened the original restaurant to oversee the last few months of operation. According to the press release: “He added his Tex-Italian fare to the menu to offer the uniqueness that has helped make Café Italia successful year after year. The restaurant has continued to garner rave reviews and was even named by PaperCity as a “Top Five Dallas Restaurant.” Jones is also working on a new concept in Fort Worth.