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)

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.

“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?

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.

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.

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.

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

Bonathon gives himself up to the restaurant gods.

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

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.

Jump for the copied and pasted details.

Bunkhouse Management, the Austin-based hotel management company of the Belmont Hotel, has announced a partnership with.  The hotel’s all-day dining restaurant Cliff Cafe will close and undergo a major renovation and will debut as brand-new concept this September.
“We are excited to announce this partnership and introduce a fresh new dining experience in a spectacular environment,” said Kevin Osterhaus, Bunkhouse Management VP of Operation.  “This new restaurant, along with interior updates planned for the Belmont Hotel lobby, bar and terrace will enhance the distinctive amenities that guests enjoy time and time again.”

Co-owner and chef Tim Byres will oversee the kitchen and menu development.  Byres recently served as Executive Chef at Stephan Pyles.  Before joining Pyles, Byres served as Chef de Cuisine at the legendary Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.  He previously served as chef and owner of Uptown restaurant, Standard, and helped develop several concepts including Tom Tom and Nikita.

The hotel restaurant will close and undergo interior renovations starting July 6.  During this time, guests will be able dine in BarBelmont and the hotel lobby.  The new restaurant concept, cuisine and décor will be announced later this summer.

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.

UPDATE: Worzel is wrong. Going nowhere. Open.

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?

Update From Upstairs: Park Cities People person Josh Hixon talked to a real person at Dallas City Market.

Dear Friends of the Tipperary:

It is with heavy heart that I announce the closing of “theTipp” this Saturday, May 16th.
I very much would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of the wonderful customers, groups, associations and musical talent we have had the pleasure of meeting and working with these past five years. As you all know, the Tipp has been my family run business and many of you have gotten to know not only myself, but that of my wife Ellen, daughter Beth and granddaughter Meghan who have been regular fixtures at the pub.

Due to the downturn in the economy with declines in sales and an unsuccessful lease renegotiation, we have decided to close our doors. These past five years have been a great experience for us. We have met and have special relationships with so many wonderful people here – we will greatly miss you all.  We will certainly treasure many of the memories and special occasions that we have hosted at the pub.

We will finish up the week with our normal schedule of events including Monday Karaoke, Tuesday Trivia, Wednesday Poker, Friday night with Paddy Gone Wild and Saturday host The  Trinity River Whalers CD release party. We hope to see you this week here at the Tipp.

Sincerely,
Tim (& Ellen Russi)
The Tipperary Inn
5815 Live Oak Street

So I have a question. Why would any landlord let a tennant go at this point in the economy? I know every case is different but I keep hearing “unsuccessful lease renegotiation” a lot lately. Another bank perhaps?

Wines

August Briggs Cabernet Napa 02

Ambroise Bourgogne 05

Belle Croze Hermitage Louis Belle 03                     90rp

Beringer Cabernet Chabot 02                                     92rp

Beringer Cabernet Private Reserve 00

Beringer Cabernet Quarry 97

BR Cohn Cabernet Olive Hill 02

Burge Olive Hill 05                                                          90rp

Cain Five 04                                                                        87-90st

Calera Pinot Noir Selleck 04                                        96rp

Ch Beaucastel Chateaunuef du Pape 05                94+rp

Ch Clos Fourtet 98                                                           90rp

Ch d’Aiguilhe 05                                                               92rp

Ch Fugue Nenin 98

Ch Lynch Bages Blanc 05                                               92-94ws

Ch Pavie Macquin 04                                                      93rp

Ch Plantiers Haut Brion Blanc 99                               89-90rp

Ch Puligny Montrachet Monthelie 04

Ch Valcombe Prestige 04

Corison Cabernet Kronos 02                                       91+st

David Arthur Cabernet 00                                            92-94ws

Diamond Creek Cabernet 98

Dow Port

Duval Leroy Blanc du Blanc                                          92ws

Ehrhart Pinot Gris Brand 01

Flora Springs Trilogy 04

Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosche 02

Font de Michelle Chateauneuf du Pape 03          91ws

Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone 04

Geyser Peak Meritage Reserve 04

Gramenon Cotes du Rhone Sagasses 02

Groom Sauvignon Blanc 08

Guigal Condrieu Dorian 03                                          96rp

Guigal Hermitage Blanc 01                                          91ws

Jayer Gilles Haut Cotes de Nuits Blanc 03

L’Aventure Estate Cuvee 05                                        97rp

Lustau Sherry

Matanzas Creek Chardonnay 06

Ogier Cote Rotie 02                                                        90ws

Opus One 1981 6L

Opus One 1980 6L

Pithon Anjou Pepinieres 05

Roessler Chardonnay Alder Springs 05

Rostaing Cote Rotie la Landonne 01                        90-932rp

Rudd Estate Oakville 04                                                94rp

Santa Duc Gigondas 03                                                  90rp

Sbragia Chardonnay Gamble Ranch 04                   93rp

Shirvington Shiraz 05                                                     93rp

Stirn Gewurztraminer 05

Thomas Sancerre 06

Vertie la Joie 02                                                               98rp

Verite la Muse 02                                                            94rp

Spirits

Absolut

Bacardi

Bailey’s

Captain Morgan

Glenlivet

Godiva

Hypnotiq

Jack Daniels

Jim Beam

Johnnie Walker

Jose Cuervo

Maker’s Mark

Old Charter

Patron

Wild Turkey

Candian Club

Old Bushmills

Sauza

Seagram 7 Crown

Smirnoff

Glassware

Bohemia

Riedel

Spiegelau

Cigars

Ashton

Cohiba

Hoyo de Monterrey

Macanudo

Montecristo

Partagus

Punch Rare

Romeo y Julieta

Beer

Anchor

Budweiser

Coors

Corona

Dogfish

Fat Tire

Miller

New Belgium

Red Hook

Sam Adams

Shiner

Widmer