A managing partner for the reincarnated Green Room today told City of Ate that the Deep Ellum eatery "will absolutely be open this month."
Although the restaurant's still short a chef, Taylor Allday says he doesn't anticipate the formerly habanero-hot dining destination will be afflicted by typical opening delays. Still, he says, the official launch date may not mean much to Joe Q. Diner.
"We plan to go through an extended soft opening, with just a few reservations available," Allday says. "It will almost be invitation-only, just to ease our kitchen into it."
Allday refused to reveal who's been short-listed for the chef's job, but said he's confident any of the candidates would instill the restaurant with the creative energy that made the Green Room famous back when it opened in 1994.
"It's always been eccentric and eclectic, and the menu will reflect that," Allday says.
Allday says eaters who patronized the first Green Room before it closed in 2006 will instantly recognize the place, although "it will be less bar and more restaurant."
Allday, who served on the original restaurant's management team, says the new Green Room will expand its chef-directed "Feed-Me-Wine-Me" prix fixe program, but he emphasizes the restaurant won't be an exercise in nostalgia.
"We want this to be very creative," he says.
