Ocean Grill chef squeezed out Ocean Grill Executive Chef Willem De Froy, a founding chef of Sambuca, was forced out of the Plano seafood restaurant by owner Anson Chan after De Froy and his wife Amy’s attempt to take it over crumbled, says Chan, who founded Yoli’s Seafood Restaurants and…

Cafe space resurrected After lying vacant for several months, the building that was once home to Coco Pazzo Cafe in Addison will open as a restaurant featuring South American cuisine September 1. The venue, tentatively named South Forks Grill, is undergoing some light reconstruction. “Sfuzzi’s had a beautiful restaurant. Then…

We’ve been infiltrated by lifestyle Nazis who want nothing but the best for us. They’re everywhere, scrutinizing every cranny of our lives, browbeating us to be socially responsible and globally aware. These goose-steppers specialize in making mindless fun taboo. Look at how stupid they have made life. We need lawyers…

“Tapas” is a term casually tossed around by restaurateurs these days. Servings of everything from grilled sweetbreads with lemon to greasy buffalo wings to bowls of Wheat Chex mixer snacks are dubbed tapas in an effort to give the most lowly tavern mouth-parchers international flair. But what the heck are…

Pyramid Room chef dies Acclaimed Dallas chef John Edwards died early Friday in what police describe as an apparent suicide. A Dallas native and the father of two children, the 37-year-old Edwards joined the Fairmont Hotel in 1980 as sous chef in the Pyramid Room restaurant and was appointed executive…

Funny things happen when people get on in years all flush and seasoned with life experience. Frivolous amusements lose their luster, and things like regularity and mutual-fund yields get our hearts pumping harder than Victoria’s Secret catalogs or Marky Mark underwear ads did before 401K became more meaningful than K-Y…

Luscher to exit Routh Street Prominent chef Brian C. Luscher will depart Routh Street Brewery July 15 to join Mike McMahan of Mac’s Bar & Grill as corporate executive chef. Through his company Mariah Corp., McMahan will upgrade Mac’s Bar & Grill restaurants in Plano, Arlington, and Midland as well…

Pay up Just two days after New York-based Toscorp closed Coco Pazzo on McKinney Avenue on May 29, a creditor asked a U.S. bankruptcy court to force New C.P. Inc., the corporation formed to purchase the assets of the defunct Sfuzzi restaurant chain, into bankruptcy. Toscorp formed New C.P. Inc…

Rigatoni is one of those diamonds in the strip-mall rough–or at least a three-quarter carat zircon in a sea of mood rings. It’s clean, crisp, and a little staged in the way restaurants get when things start to resemble a sub sandwich emporium or a Motel 6 lobby. This immaculate…

Maybe beauty is only skin deep, but it sure makes everything taste better. Yes, many Dallas venues serve food good enough to make your taste buds do a Rockettes line dance. But far too many of them are lodged in strip malls. These locations often suffuse me with this overwhelming…

McKinney upheaval It’s hard to tell whether the turmoil surrounding three well-known restaurants on or near McKinney Avenue that have either shut down or swapped owners is due to poor execution or shifting fortunes. And rumors are swirling that at least one more demise is possible. The most high-profile closing…

The first thing that will strike you about P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is the interior. Unlike most Chinese restaurants, with standard-issue food service furnishings and dim lighting, this one is bright, crisply contemporary, and bristling with energy. There’s even an open kitchen with a demonstration cooking wok in full view…

Champagne cuts back dinner After opening with nightly dinner service on May 7, Champagne, the nouveau-French restaurant linked with the Gold Bar in the building that once held the Titche-Goettinger department store on Elm Street, has temporarily scaled back its evening dining to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Spokeswoman Norma Tamez…

d5 McKintyre chef at Popolos Britton McKintyre, former chef at Sipango, will head-up the kitchen at Popolos, according to David Holben, executive vice president and executive chef of Foodstar Restaurant Group Inc., the company that purchased the restaurant in December. McKintyre takes over for Chef Los Akins, who is in…

The first thing you notice about Rockfish is the tin washtub of peanuts near the entrance with a sign inviting diners to grab a tin bucket and fill up. The second thing you’ll notice is that the floor crunches as you walk to your table–if there is one. Most likely…

Fog City Diner closes Though the purchase has yet to be consummated, Fog City Diner shut down this past Sunday because of mass staff resignations in anticipation of a takeover by Truluck’s Steak and Stone Crab in Addison. A spokesman for Truluck’s says that the deal has closed and that…

One of the things I love most about dining out is excellent service. I prize that coddled, back-to-the-womb feeling of knowing that someone cares enough to strive for that 20 percent gratuity by brushing the bread crumbs from my wingtips or wiping the burgundy dribbles from my chin. Service: It’s…

Is the fog out yet? A rumor erupted earlier this week that Truluck’s co-owner Steve Fields announced at a luncheon that the restaurant completed a deal May 8 to acquire Fog City Diner and that the McKinney Avenue restaurant would be Truluck’s by the end of June. But Fog City…

Americus defines its cuisine as “regional American with a Southern twist,” which is something I’m not sure I get. How could something be regional with a regional twist? And does a double regional cancel itself out and leave us with nothing to eat but a press release? Geography’s a bitch,…

Servers possess a sort of innocence when it’s clear they’re not in love with the profession, but are shoveling grub and sloshing grog at diners as a means to something else. This was one week where that innocence was on display. On our initial visit to Vitto, the Oak Lawn…