There's good and bad news in this week's roundup of DFW restaurant events. Let's start with the bad:
- Audacity Brew House, Denton's first brewery, is closing Nov. 11, the Denton Record-Chronicle reports. The brewery opened in 2014. The announcement was made in a note from owner-brewer Doug Smith to investors. "In the note to investors, Smith said that taproom sales were not growing enough to keep the company open," the DRC reports. "However, Smith said during a phone interview Thursday that the real problem is disagreements between investors." This is a big blow to Denton's growing beer scene.
- Dean & DeLuca, the New York City-bred gourmet grocery store, was supposed to open a location at Plano's Legacy West, but those plans have been scrapped, The Dallas Morning News reports. "Dean & DeLuca president Laura Lendrum said the decision has to do with a shift in the retailer's business goals and not with Legacy West," DMN reports. The grocer is clearly scaling back right now; Dean & DeLuca recently pulled out of its sponsorship of a PGA invitational at Fort Worth's Colonial Country Club.
- There's a new restaurant coming to West Village this winter: Mamoun’s Falafel, a New York City-born Middle Eastern fast-casual franchise. "Mamoun’s Falafel recently partnered with Fransmart, the industry leading franchise development company behind the explosive growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Halal Guys and Qdoba Mexican Grill, as their exclusive franchise development partner to grow the brand in major U.S. markets," according to a press release. "Dallas will be the first of many franchised Mamoun's Falafel restaurants to open outside of the East Coast."
- SpicyZest, the Farmers Branch Sri Lankan restaurant where chef Nimidu Senaratne was awarded Best Chef in the Observer's 2017 Best of Dallas awards, is adding a bakery and brunch, according to a rep for the restaurant:
"Starting this week, we are serving Sunday brunch [10:30 a.m. to 2:30], including Sri Lankan herbal porridge, tea and coffee. Also, we started doing all type of Sri Lankan fresh bakery products coming out every day after 3 p.m. ... all type of buns like fish buns, beef buns, seeni sambol buns, etc. ... Soon we introduce Sri Lankan special bread as well. Since we just started doing this, we make small batch of items; that's why pre-ordering is recommended."
- City Hall Bistro, the new restaurant at the renovated Adolphus downtown, has finally publicly announced its new chef: Jeramie Robison. Robison, formerly of Uchi, took a gig as culinary director for Apheleia Restaurant Group (Oak, El Bolero, Pak Pao, Quill) in February. But, as has been the case with the five chefs who took that same Apheleia gig before him, Robison left just a few months later. Now Robison has taken over at City Hall Bistro, which is attempting to become an all-day dining mainstay downtown.
- Speaking of staff shakeups, 2017 Best of Dallas Best Bartender winner Ravinder Singh has left Rapscallion to take a new gig at the forthcoming Jalisco Norte, according to a press release. The Mexican restaurant is slated to open in Turtle Creek Village in November.
- Just a few months after a renovation and menu overhaul, Tillman's Roadhouse in Bishop Arts already has a new chef: Gerald Smith, who joins Tillman's from Hogsalt Hospitality in Chicago. Smith is "expected to bring innovative changes to the menu of the long-standing Oak Cliff restaurant," according to a press release. "Chef Smith will begin making his mark on the menu with updated offerings this winter. Diners can expect a completely revamped menu in the spring."
