Ranking It
Dallas restaurant concept joins ranks of America's coolest new businesses
With the end of 2014 upon us, there are plenty of “best of” compilations floating around the Interwebs, and the latest one from Business Insider has Kitchen LTO as one of the 50 coolest new businesses in America. The Trinity Groves restaurant was one of two Texas enterprises to make the list.
Before we proceed, know that BI defines these as the “most innovative new businesses that opened within the last five years or so.” So perhaps not so new. And apparently not so innovative, if you consider that the other Texas company, Houston’s PhotoMoto, is a mobile photo booth operated out of a vintage 1970s Volkswagen bus. Not unlike Photo Bus DFW, which also is a free-wheeling photo booth in a converted 1970s VW bus. Or Photo-Wagon, which operates out of a 1958 Cardinal travel trailer.
And those are just in Dallas. Surely this concept is not confined to Texas. But we digress.
Back to LTO. Under the “why it’s cool” header, BI says, “When you dine at Kitchen LTO, you know you’re only getting the best of the best, as chefs have to apply to serve their suggested menus at this permanent pop up — and it’s a competitive process. The winning chefs serve their menus for four months, and are subject to Dallas residents’ critiques as they vote for their favorite chefs.”
Interestingly, it’s looking like current LTO champ Blythe Beck is going to stick around for another four months after her #KeepBlythe Facebook campaign has surpassed its necessary 1,000 followers. The former Central 214 executive chef won her appointment back in the summer, but she wants to keep the good times rolling — a move the Observercalled “just the dumbest.”
If that’s the case, there’s no telling how permanent this pop-up concept will be. Which kind of puts a damper on the whole innovative thing.