Hash Over

Silenced partner

You could call it a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you. Or maybe the hand that wants to take over. It seems Chris Svalesen and his undisclosed lone investor in Copper River, his new seafood restaurant slated to go into the former San Simeon space on McKinney Avenue, didn't agree on much in the end. Except that Svalesen needed his money and the investor needed Svalesen in the kitchen. But according to the former Fish chef, the investor wanted to make sure Svalesen knew his place and who would be calling the shots. Svalesen decided he would have none of it and told his investor to take a hike. But the money man claimed that he came up with the name and wanted to be compensated for it. "I said, 'No, you can post it on your bedroom wall,'" Svalesen snaps. So he found three new investors and came up with a new name: Wave. He'll still serve Copper River salmon year-round. And he's still going to open this year, only now it will be sometime in December instead of this month. He is also less than thrilled that famed Dallas hothead chef Avner Samuel has moved in next door with his new "world" tapas bar Bibendum. "As far as neighborly love, there's nothing lost in this relationship," grumbles Svalesen, who once replaced Samuel at the now defunct Yellow restaurant that was just down the street. "I mean, if he moved in next to you, wouldn't you just flip out?"

Mixed Hash

Mark Maguire of Maguire's Regional Cuisine next door to Dale Wamstad's III Forks empire on the North Dallas Tollway has signed on a new chef and partner in his venture: Cherif Brahmi, who has had stints at Mi Piacci, Café Pacific, and Old Warsaw. Maguire, a restaurant-industry veteran currently with the Staubach Company, is robustly bullish on the restaurant, set to open October 22. And it isn't because he butts up against Wamstad's beef shop either. "Trinity Mills dead ends right into our front door," he explains...Former III Forks and Crescent Court veteran Logan Crossland has joined Kent Rathbun's Abacus, replacing operations manager Lewis McHenry, who bolted for undisclosed reasons. When will the long-anticipated restaurant open? "I don't have a solid number," Crossland says, but adds October 15 might be a good guess.

— Mark StuertzE-mail Dish at markstz@flash.net.