Chef Norman Grimm and Casie Caldwell.
Savor the Savviest Culinary Concept Yet
By Linden Wilson, Assistant Editor
Thebrproposal: Create a permanent pop-up eatery housed in Trinity Groves, a buddingbr15-acre restaurant, retail, artist and entertainment destination in West Dallasbrthat Romano conceived of about eight years ago. It's quickly becoming known forbrits inimitable restaurant conceptsbrand for fostering the growth of business startups.
“Mybrfocus had been and is on growing Greenz, but I thought it would be reallybrstupid to blow him off,” says Caldwell, an entrepreneur who had just opened herbrfirst of four Greenz locations in 2004 after noticing a lack of restaurantsbrserving quality yet affordable salads. Although she already had her plate full,brCaldwell jumped at the chance to work with Romano, who fell in love with thebrrestaurant model she presented to him two months later.
KitchenbrLTO (Limited Time Only) might first cause you to raise your eyebrows, but thenbryou’ll want to make a reservation. The restaurant, scheduled to open Sept. 9,brwill change head chef and lead designer every four months, essentiallybrreinventing itself three times a year and providing customers with an endlessbroffering of new tastes and sights. As someone who loves to try new places, Caldwellbrdesigned Kitchen LTO to continually deliver something totally new andbrdifferent.
“I rarely gobrto a restaurant twice,” she says. “I'm always looking for the new chef, the newbrup-and-comer. What is he or she working on? What are the new flavor trends?” Yetbrit was the heavy social media component Caldwell incorporated in her KitchenbrLTO proposal that really caught Romano's eye. Chefs and designers interested inbrbecoming a part of the restaurant concept must first apply, then if chosen asbrfinalists, they are thrust into the Internet spotlight via Facebook, Twitterbrand Kitchen LTO's website where the public votes on who they'd most like to seebrtake over Kitchen LTO.
“Thisbrintrigued him because he's very much after the millennials,” Caldwell explains.br“He knows they want to be a part of molding and designing something.”
Once Romanobrand West Dallas Investments, the company he owns alongside investors StuartbrFitts and Butch McGregor, officially signed off on Caldwell's idea thatbrDecember, she immediately began converting the concept into a reality. One ofbrher main tasks was selecting a knowledgeable panel of judges who whittle thebrapplicants down to chef and designer finalists the public can choose from.
“That was abrcollaborative effort with people I trusted in the business and others I knewbrand respected,” she says. “I approached the restaurant industry at differentbrlevels. We have Jason Kosmas, who used to be a chef and is also a nationalbraward-winning mixologist and cocktail artist, then we have Rebecca Wright,brwho's responsible for planning Truluck's events, so she comes at it from abrplanning and marketing side. I wanted chef talent mixed with owners andbrmarketing professionals so we're not just looking at one aspect.” Other judgesbrinclude Sharon van Meter, a chef specializing in classic French technique whobronce worked as executive chef at the Ritz Carlton International; Chris Zielke,bra Madrid native who co-owns Dallas-area restaurants Smoke, Bolsa, Bolsa Mercadobrand Chicken Scratch/The Foundry; and four others, plus Caldwell herself.
The firstbrgo-around produced about 15 applications — lots of intrigue but lots of peoplebrin wait-and-see-mode, Caldwell says. “It was a sell job. Some people applied onbrtheir own, but I sought out others from various design groups and the TexasbrChefs Association. We ended up narrowing it down to five chefs and fivebrdesigners.”
The bigbrhesitation with potential applicants, Caldwell adds, is what they would dobrabout their current job if they had to leave it for something that's only abrfour-month stint.
“A lot ofbrpeople are scared to dip their toes in the water,” she says. “But if they'rebrlooking at this opportunity correctly, there's no other place they can get thebrexperience and the exposure. We are trying to elevate their talent and be thatbrshowcase for their abilities. It's one more thing to put on their resume, andbrit could change their career. For designers especially, it's an opportunity forbrthem to be on display for four months.”
Although shebrdidn't win, Southlake designer Karen Chidiac was selected as a finalist afterbrCaldwell discovered her impressive portfolio on LinkedIn. Kitchen LTO intriguedbrChidiac because it would allow her to expose her business, House of Holland, tobrthe Dallas community in a way that it had not been before.
“I workbrprimarily in residential but have experience in restaurant design, so itbrsounded like a fun and interesting experience,” Chidiac says. “You have to takebradvantage of situations as they come and make the best of them.” Chidiac, whobrdescribes her personal design aesthetic as traditional quirky, began turning downbrwork about a month before the final results were announced, knowing that if shebrdid win, designing the Kitchen LTO space would take up the majority of herbrtime.
In the end,brthe winning designer wound up being a duo from Coeval Studio, a Dallas-area spacebrdesign and concepts company. Co-owners John Valverde and Miguel Vicens havebrextensive experience designing Dallas restaurants, including Belly and Trumpet,brPakPao Tai, CampO Modern Country Bistro and Mutts Canine Cantina, abrrestaurant/dog park combo that allows you to sip a beer alongside man's bestbrfriend. Caldwell says their design for Kitchen LTO will be very modern withbrclean lines and a warm, subtle use of color.
“They'rebrincorporating a vanishing art piece along an entire wall,” she explains. “Daybrone, there will be little decals on the wall, like removable wallpaper, andbreach week we will remove them. So the art changes like Kitchen LTO changes — Ibrthought it was a unique way to play into the brand.”
And for thebrwinning chef? Norman Grimm, whose culinary pedigree extends far beyond thebrwalls of Big D restaurants The Mercury, York Street and Nosh Euro Bistro. He'sbralso worked in France and has been in the restaurant business for 23 years, cookingbrunder renowned chefs like Traci Des Jardins and Richard Reddington.
“He's reallybrrefined his craft,” Caldwell says. “His goal is to open his own restaurant, sobrhe's using this opportunity to show what he'd like to do. You'll see modernbrAmerican cuisine with a French flair. I don't doubt for a minute that someone'sbrgoing to have their eye on him, whether it's our group of investors or othersbrwho will recognize his ability and talent. He'll have his own restaurant — thisbris his last step.” Dishes like rice crispy tuna tartare and a melon salad willbrbe part of Grimm's Kitchen LTO menu, which will feature a moderately pricedbrlunch ($13 to $15) with a more upscale feel come dinnertime.
“We want thebrprices to be mindful of the customer base at Trinity Groves,” Caldwell says. “Lunchbris driven from downtown and West Dallas, but we also know we're more of abrdestination, so people will come from everywhere.”
Kitchen LTObrhas generated lots of buzz since the news broke this past February that itbrwould be part of the Trinity Groves culinary scene, and rightfully so. Therebrare restaurants that periodically change chefs or let guest chefs come in, andbrthere are restaurants that change their design seasonally; but there is not onebrCaldwell can find that does both, and Trinity Groves is the perfect home forbrit.
“It's thebrbest fit because everything they are doing there is homegrown,” she says. “It'sbrgoing to have that made-from-scratch feel, so if our mission is to take thatbrhomegrown designer and chef and elevate them, there isn't any better place.”