After finishing a stint at Popply's Pizza and Pasta in Frisco, Karim Alaoui is back in control of City Café after it nearly slipped into the grave after 20 years, no doubt chasing much of its customer base. Alaoui partnered with Paula Bruton (both from the defunct Lombardi Mare) to purchase City Café from founder Mardi Schma some three years ago before the partnership ruptured. But Alaoui came back with plans to revitalize the timeworn institution. The dining room will be remodeled, and he's expanding into the 1,700-square-foot former dry cleaner next door with plans to add a wine bar and a cooking school for kids ages 7 to 12, an ingenious way to tap a new market. "We're just trying to bring our customers back a little bit at a time, because, you know, a lot of them left," Alaoui says