Flushed

The amazing thing about Phil Romano‘s abrupt move to ice We Oui was not that he did it so fast, but that he did it at all. Most operators, especially those with a creative streak as exuberant as Romano’s, tend to get so personally involved with their chef d’oeuvres that they lose perspective and keep them on life support well past the point of viable longevity. Certainly Romano had the resources to nurse his pseudo French bistro (with pick-up lines in French piped into the bathrooms and plans to distribute condoms at closing) for longer than six months.

“I thought we’d do more volume than we did,” he says. “Being French food, we just weren’t able to generate the volume we needed to justify that location.” Romano says his cost structure demanded twice the volume he was generating the last couple of months just to break even.

Where does he go from here? Romano says he plans to create a cluster of small restaurants in Dallas with perhaps 100 to 120 seats, each anchored by a creative Dallas kitchen personality who will have free rein with the menu. The first, with We Oui chef Nick Badovinus, should open in six to 18 months depending on how the space search proceeds. “Basically, what I think Dallas needs is small restaurants, like New York City,” he says. “The problem with Dallas is nobody takes cabs anyplace. They gotta drive so you gotta have parking lots and stuff.”

Sounds like a lot of work for someone who views restaurateuring as a hobby. After all, hobbyists generally don’t euthanize their toys for things such as insolvency. And while We Oui did draw heady throngs in its first few weeks, Romano says he always had his eye on what it would be doing six months out. It was that sobering view that prompted him to throw one last bash, held at We Oui. “There’s no sense in trying to kick a dead horse,” he says. “It’s all done. Zip it up. It didn’t work. So I’m calling all my friends and asking them to come down and have dinner on us and have a drink to help me forget losing $2 million.”

Former Melrose Hotel chef Jim Anile, who bailed from his post as executive chef of Jeroboam to take a position at Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara, California, apparently has bailed from that seaside post, too. Meanwhile, Jeroboam’s Whit Meyers says his kitchen has managed to harness the talents of former Il Sole Executive Chef Tim Penn, albeit without a title. “He’s on the line,” says Meyers. Meyers also says Jeroboam chef Garreth Dickey is gradually reworking the menu, adding Frenchie food that’s a bit more adventurous, like sweetbreads. “Do I think we’re going to do heart and kidney? Probably not,” Meyers says. “I think that’s a little out there for Dallas.”