Wild Salsa, or Komali and Salum Have All Cut Ties with Their Chefs

I hope you're working in pencil and not ink. Chefs are bouncing around or getting the axe quicker than you can say "hollandaise" lately. Najat Kaanache is no longer at Souk, the modern Moroccan restaurant in Trinity Groves. Kaanache had only been there a few months after leaving P|S in...

By Scott Reitz

February 25, 2014

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

I hope you're working in pencil and not ink. Chefs are bouncing around or getting the axe quicker than you can say "hollandaise" lately.

Najat Kaanache is no longer at Souk, the modern Moroccan restaurant in Trinity Groves.

Kaanache had only been there a few months after leaving P|S in Uptown, where she first dropped a menu filled with global aspirations before adopting a menu showcasing "awesome Texas food" that read like a giant culinary middle finger to Dallas. Kaanache earned two stars for her cooking at Souk but it wasn't enough. She left last week, to be replaced by Abraham Castillo, who has worked at Baboush in the West Village.

Ian Tate has been cooking up awesome Mexican food at Komali and Salum since Anastacia Quinones left in 2013, but he's no longer cooking for owner Abraham Salum. Tate made it just more than three months before his departure was announced.

And finally, Kelly Hightower is no longer with DRG Concept's Wild Salsa. The downtown taqueria has been a solid spot to sip tequila and eat tacos until you pop. Neither Hightower or DRG Concepts is talking, according to the Eats Blog, which makes the split seem less than amicable.

No replacement has been announced for the chefs at Wild Salsa, or Komali and Salum.

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.