Happy 2013
Chef swaps: Tiffany Derry leaves Private Social, Andre Natera goes to Marquee Grill
Chef news part 1: Top Chef alumna Tiffany Derry resigned from Private Social, the Uptown Dallas restaurant where she was chef for the past 17 months. Her last day will be January 28. Via her publicist, she issued a statement saying that it has been a difficult decision.
This has been such a difficult decision to come to, as I am so grateful to Patrick and Private Social for allowing me this amazing experience. I have been approached about a few opportunities that will take the majority of my time and full attention, and I did not think it would be fair to the team at Private Social. I hope to carry on the beautiful friendships I have gained through this experience and cannot wait to share with everyone the next steps in my journey.
She told Eats that she'd be staying in Dallas; SideDish speculated that she wanted more money. But there have been rumblings that she'll open a restaurant in her hometown of Beaumont, after having done a pop-up restaurant there in October. She's also done some filming for a reality TV show about the behind-the-scenes life of a chef (at one point called Cooking It Up).
"It's no secret that I've wanted a restaurant in Beaumont for seven years now, but there is nothing signed," Derry says. "I have a lot of projects I'm working on. There is no question that I love my hometown and would love to have something for my family, my mom and my dad, to be a part of.
"Beaumont is not as small as people might think it is. Every night here in Dallas, I get approached by a customer saying, 'I'm from Beaumont!' I would love to be able to do what I do out there as well. But for now I have no restaurant in Beaumont."
Chef news part 2: Andre Natera has been hired as chef for the Marquee Grill in Highland Park Village. Natera left the Fairmont Hotel in October to take a break. (And perhaps to spend time on Facebook? He's very active on social media.)
The timing was good for the Marquee, in need of a replacement for Tre Wilcox, who gave his notice in December. Natera starts in February; Wilcox will stay until February 8.