You could say that former Sipango chef and partner Matthew Antonovich is fickle. Either that, or he has no business sense when it comes to choosing a partner. Just look at his post-Sipango history. First he connects with Dale Wamstad of III Forks, only to discover that grilling steaks for someone who calls himself Captain Bob, gulps from the fountain of youth, and goes through staff the way Larry North goes through bottled water is just too goofy, even for a chef. Then he lets former Mansion Matre d' Wayne Broadwell talk him into playing pugilistic footsy with TV star Chuck Norris and Beverly Hills wine merchant Dennis Overstreet over at Lone Wolf Lounge, only to discover that kitchen physics with a black-belted stogie sucker and a Hollywood wine geek was bad science. After that, he pairs with Broadwell to launch the Villa on Maple, only to have his dead grandmother intervene in a paranormal pep talk, urging him to go it alone. But does he listen? No. Instead, he hooks up with an unnamed Dallas businessman to launch Antonovich's, a casual New American restaurant in the former Ricardo's Restaurante Mexicano space in Plano. Only a dispute over ownership mucks up that partnership too. So he and his wife decide to open the restaurant this week anyway, shouldering the entire million-plus-dollar investment themselves. "After all I've been through, it's scary to go into partnerships," Antonovich says. If only he had listened to Grandma sooner.
On the move
Air too thin up there? Must be. Chef Frederick Stevens scampered down from the Chaparral Club atop the Adam's Mark Hotel recently and allegedly skipped the state for parts unknown...Fairmont Hotel Food & Beverage Director Roger Hyde skipped town too. He checked out of the hotel where he has been for five years (at one point as executive chef) only to check in someplace else: a bed & breakfast he purchased in upstate New York called the Harbor Inn. Also packing is Fairmont pastry chef Katie Reddick, who's checked her baggage to Las Cruces, New Mexico. A needed lifestyle change is pegged as what prompted her to make the move. Then there's the circuitous Bill Valentine, who'll soon be skewering meat where he used to torch stogies. Valentine, former general manager of Lone Wolf Lounge, is now GM of the South American grill house Texas de Brazil set to open in mid-June in the Cedar Springs space once home to Lone Wolf. He'll eventually manage both the Cedar Springs and Addison locations while owner Salim Asrawi scouts other locations in downtown Houston and perhaps Fort Worth and Austin.
--Mark Stuertz
E-mail Dish at [email protected].
