Hope it cuts the mustard

Klyde Warren Park unveils Savor and Relish, its deliciously on-trend gastropuband food truck

Klyde Warren Park, the 5-acre deck park about to open over Woodall Rogers Freeway in downtown Dallas, has revealed its new restaurant and chef. John Coleman, most recently executive chef and director of food and beverage for the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, will helm the restaurant called Savor and Relish.

Actually, it's a two-pronged concept. Savor will be a gastropub; Relish will be a companion kiosk offering quick food for outdoor snacking. For the park's grand opening, Relish will debut as a food truck until the full restaurant and permanent kiosk open in mid-2013. In fact, the Relish food truck has its own little Facebook page.

Savor's menu will include shared plates such as baked ricotta with flatbread and fried calamari with green curry dipping sauce. The burger program is unusual, to say the least. Concerned about toppings falling out of the bun, Coleman's approach is to mix the toppings — corn chow chow and pepper Jack with tarragon mayo, for example — into the patty before grilling. Another burger has bacon, onions and Swiss cheese with mustard.

The restaurant will have a bar with a wall of beer, wine kegs and custom mixology program.

Savor and Relish will be the main restaurant at the park, but restaurateur Shannon Wynne (Flying Saucer, Meddlesome Moth) has announced that he'll open a restaurant across the street.

Coleman has been at the Ritz in Uptown since 2007, but he's worked for Ritz-Carlton for 23 years and has opened locations for the luxury hotel chain worldwide. Mark Banta, president of Klyde Warren Park, says that Coleman will help bring three key ingredients to the park: a sit-down restaurant; patio and bar; and kiosk with quick, cheap food.

Coleman says that the pub concept is a "great alignment" with the mission of the park.

"When you think about what that park is trying to do — to create a social center for that area — a pub is something that makes sense," he says. "If you think about a pub in Ireland or England, it's a place for the community to gather, where people go out to have a social experience. The 'gastro' is making sure we have chef-driven food that’s exceptional, that we have a wine program that makes sense, a mixology program that's great. And do it in a way that’s affordable to everyone."

So a pub. Fish and chips, right?

"Of course we’re looking at doing a fish and chips, but to talk about one specific dish is difficult," he says. "More important is the authenticity in how you prepare the dishes. A hummus the right way, with the right dried chickpeas. There is technique in everything that you do that makes a simple product go from good to amazing. I like to keep it simple."

Coleman says that leaving Ritz-Carlton was hard but this was a chance of a lifetime.

"This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that can really cement you into a community," he says. "Part of it is about putting down roots. I've got three daughters. It's kind of nice to be able to go to a soccer game. We want to have a place to call home."

Architect Thomas Phifer designed the restaurant pavilion and the performance pavilion. Bill Johnson of the Johnson Studios in Atlanta is designing the restaurant’s interior.

Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation board member John Muse has partnered with Coleman to provide financial backing for the restaurant. Because the park will be privately operated and managed by the foundation, the restaurant relationship is a key element in the plan to fund park programming and operations. As part of the agreement, Coleman will also provide special event catering and concessions for events in the park.

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Diner News

Home-cooking classic Chubby's closes location in southwest Dallas

Chubby's

Biscuits and gravy at Chubby's

A beloved diner near Duncanville in southwest Dallas has closed: Chubby's, famous for its home-cooking cuisine and splendiferous breakfasts, has closed its location at 7474 S. Cockrell Hill Rd., near I-20 and 67, after 18 years.

In what will be a relief for Chubby's many fans, the original location, at 11331 E. Northwest Hwy., is still open. A manager at the original location confirmed that the Cockrell Hill location had closed, while a spokesperson for the property said the building was up for sale because the owner was "ready to retire."

The location has been on the market since June, but they finally shuttered the restaurant on October 31. It had been at that address since 2008, taking over a space that was formerly Owens Family Restaurant, and originally a Bob Evans Restaurant.

Chubby's was founded by brothers and Greek immigrants John and George Touris, who opened the first location in 1987. Over the years, they opened more locations, winning over fans with their pancakes, omelets, chicken-fried steak, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and more, as well as a few Italian and Greek dishes.

If you know restaurants, you know that Greek restaurateurs usually adhere to a high standard of quality. Stellar signatures, shown in their most tempting light on Instagram, include biscuits & gravy, chicken-fried steak, Greek baked chicken with potato wedges, banana pancakes topped with banana slices and whipped cream, Greek salad, and masterful desserts including multi-layer cakes and baked pies in varieties such as cherry, coconut cream, and the rare chocolate meringue.

As their website explains, John Touris was 16 when he, his brother, and mother left Greece in 1978 and emigrated to Buffalo, New York, where John learned the ropes from his uncle, a restaurant veteran who worked at Towne Restaurant, which helped many Greek immigrants find their way in the U.S.

John moved to Dallas and in 1982 opened his first restaurant, Dough Boys, which eventually evolved into Chubby’s when it moved to its location on Northwest Highway. Together with his brother George, John built Chubby’s into a community cornerstone, expanding to four locations across Plano and Lancaster, which both closed, and this location near Duncanville, which has now closed as well.

Chubby’s is treasured by old-timers as one of a shrinking pool of diner-type places, like Mama's Daughters' Diner, Original Market Diner, Metro Diner, and Norma's Cafe, that offers unpretentious, well-prepared food at a relatively low price.

breakfast closings greek cuisine