Attention Spanwich
Jeff Sinelli brings it up before he's even asked about it, the reputation he's picked up. He's great at coming up with ideas and putting them to work, not so hot at sticking around to see how it all shakes out. Sinelli can't deny it, considering it's been his pattern since he began his restaurant career in Deep Ellum in 1994. "I'm a creator of concepts," Sinelli says. "I just love the creation stages."
Peter Calvin
A mediocre review left a bad taste in Phil Romano's mouth.
Skip Bayless
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The example most would point to is Genghis Grill. Sinelli opened the Mongolian barbecue on Lower Greenville in 1998, and it was an immediate success. So much so that Sinelli started a franchisee program. Just when Genghis was at the height of its success, he walked away, selling the chain to Consilient Restaurants in 2003.
Most would assume, then, that Sinelli's latest concept--Which Wich, a "superior sandwich" shop that opened earlier this year near Pegasus Plaza--is just another stopover on Sinelli's way to his next creation. And it is. Sort of. The next creation just happens to be part of his current one, revolving around the word "Which" and his clever but simple ordering system, a series of brown paper bags and red Sharpie checkmarks. Sinelli has a "very kind of Virgin Atlantic/Trump-type vision" for Which brands, a wide-screen idea that includes Which Coffee, Which Ice Cream, Which Burger, even Which Tunes, a music partnership with Cary Pierce and Aware Records.
"I hesitate to say Which Airlines, because it's so premature," Sinelli says. Five Which stores are opening in Orlando, Florida, and he's in discussions to open many more. "It's comical yet serious at the same time. It's more of a lifetime, long-term vision for myself and for the brands that I create. Because, you know, I've sold a lot of the things that I've created, and I don't want to be--at this stage of my life--someone that's in it for two to five years and then out." --Zac Crain
Homesick
If you could judge journalists by how well they vet rumors, you'd wonder how we get anything right. In fact, one of the reasons we don't report on most of the media gossip we hear is we know firsthand that newsrooms are the worst place to go if you want to find out what's going on at a media concern. (The best place: advertising departments.)
So it actually surprised us when we checked out the latest big media rumor: that nationally known sports columnist Skip Bayless--formerly of The Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Chicago Tribune and currently of the San Jose Mercury News--was interviewing to come back to the DMN. Surprised us because it had a shred of truth.
What's true: Bayless misses Dallas, at least somewhat. "This would be a great time to be writing and talking about Dallas sports," says Bayless, currently holed up in Washington, D.C., for three weeks as he guest-hosts ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. "And I was back in Dallas for a few days in July--my first extended time-off stay since I left in early '98. I saw lots of old friends and bumped into lots of old readers and listeners. I kept hearing things like 'We really miss your writing' or 'Dallas really misses your voice'...I was amazed and honored so many people remembered me. It has been awhile."
That got Bayless to admit to a few friends that, yes, his contract with Knight-Ridder (which owns the Merc News) is up September 1 and, yes, Dallas is great. "Maybe that propelled a runaway rumor," he says.
Bob Mong, editor of the DMN,says "no one in editorial has had any contact with Skip." Friends of Bayless, however, say he would come back only if asked and wouldn't put himself in a position to be turned away. Translation: The rumors help "test the waters."
Bayless says it's nothing that covert. "I'm looking at other newspaper, dot-com and TV opportunities," he says, "but I haven't spoken to anyone at the News. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But I'll know soon." --Eric Celeste
