We all knew this day would come. At the end of January, Kitchen LTO chef Norman Grimm will have braised his last shank, seared his last scallop and theatrically melted his last chocolate OMG. Grimm's name will be striped from the marquee, and a new menu and dining concept will be stood up in its place.
Want to play along?
On Sunday, January 5, Kitchen LTO will have an unveiling party announcing the finalist chefs and designer for the second pop up restaurant. The cost is $50 (buy tickets here), which gets you a little face time with the contestants and of course nibbles from the potential menus the rest of us won't have access to till February. You don't have to pay to vote, though. Voting will be conducted online through the following week, with a once per day voting rule in place to stamp out the pesky voting robots.
I've visited Trinity Groves a few times recently, and I've noticed the dining room at LTO looks a little empty compared to the crush of diners waiting for tables when I first reviewed the space. It will be interesting to see if the new pop up can create another surge of customers.
And it will be even more interesting to see what kind of restaurant slides into the space. I'm pushing for gastropub, in the true British form. Give me dark walls, fish and chips, blood pudding and a line of ales that's big enough to impress every expat in Dallas.