Published 11:37am Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hardees is coming back to Austin.

Company representatives for the Northland Restaurant Group confirmed Thursday they hoped to build a new Hardees restaurant near Interstate 90 at 1406 of Fourth St. NW.

We have the best burgers in town and cant wait to come back to Austin, Dan Cole, marketing manager for Northland Restaurant Group, said.

If all goes well, company officials believe they could break ground on the restaurant in April, finish construction after about 90 days, and open the store with about 70 employees soon after.

Cole said Northland is looking to expand the Hardees brand throughout the Midwest and called the Austin location prime territory for a Hardees restaurant.

There used to be two Hardees locations in Austin, but both closed in recent years. A Hardees restaurant at West Oakland Avenue and Fourth Street closed in 2004 and another at 1300 14th Street Northwest closed in 2008.

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Hardees restaurant coming to Austin

It's hard for chef-owner Tim Ma to take a step back from Maple Ave Restaurant, which he calls his "baby." But, effective February 15, that's what he did, a move necessary to free up some time as he plans to launch three new concepts over the next two years.

First things first: Ma is crossing the river. He confirmed to The Post that he will be opening a D.C. restaurant, though he wasn't able to provide any other details.

"D.C. scares me, I'm not going to lie,"he said. "I've spent most of my life in Virginia, I'm comfortable in Virginia." He anticipates the new restaurant will open in 2016.

In the meantime, he has his hands full with a supper club and catering business he plans to launch next month, and his forthcoming sandwich shop, Chase the Submarine, which will open in early fall in Vienna, if construction stays on track.

The supper club, called Gather +Feast, will give fans of Maple Ave and Water & Wall a chance to have the chef cook in their own homes. Ma says he'll test dishes that may end up on future menus.

[Here's how to get a celebrity chef to cook in your kitchen]

The catering service, which will be sold through a Kickstarter,seems like a pretty great deal, too: For $100 per person (with a minimum of eight people and a max of 12), Ma will come to your house and cook one of several pre-selected but customizable menus. He'll also include a server, all of the cookware and dishware, all of the ingredients except for alcohol, and he'll cleanthe kitchen, leaving it "the way it was -- or better," said Ma.

That was the case at a recent Sips and Suppers dinner at the home of Quinn Bradlee, son of Washington Post notables Sally Quinn and the late Ben Bradlee,who was left with a spotless kitchen once the meal was over.

"At the end of the meal, [Quinn Bradlee]was looking at the kitchen, and he was like, 'I've never seen it like this!'" said Ma.

Ma has already worked out a few themed menus for Gather + Feast. There's a duck-centric menu with plenty of foie gras, a surf and turf (but "not lobster and not filet mignon," he said), and an ode to New York vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy.

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Chef Tim Ma steps back from Maple Ave Restaurant as he plans a D.C. opening

Construction to expand Geronimos dining hall started earlier this month, but residents and faculty are in talks of whether or not it will cause problems.

The expansion, called the Bamboo Terrace restaurant, began earlier this month and is set to open for the new residents this coming August. The new area will carry on a pan-Asian menu, with food from various regions of China, and other parts of Asia. The renovation will take place in an area approximately 6,900 square feet.

So with such a huge addition, dorm residents wonder if it will cause problems or commotion.

I dont think it would cause commotion for the residents because Geronimos is pretty isolated from the dorms, said junior, marine biology major and housing resident Richard Yan. Most of the people eat at night when there is no construction.

Other housing residents, like sophomore CTVA major Robin Royal, expresses an concern the construction will indeed cause commotion, depending on how much space is used up versus how much space the expansion really is.

This also brings into question whether or not the expansion will cause problems for nearby traffic. Seeing as how the Satellite Student Union building is located at the northeastern-most point of campus, residents and daily commuters wonder whether construction will cause problems for traffic on the corner of Lassen Street and Zelzah Avenue.

John Johnson, assistant manager of Geronimos, disagrees with that notion, and suspects the construction will not pour out into the street corner, so commuters have nothing to fear.

Tim Killops, the associate director of Facilities and Projects, assures the project will not extend beyond the walls of the Satellite Student Union.

It definitely wont affect the dorm community, Killops said. Our project takes place entirely inside the Satellite Student Union. Any deliveries of building supplies will take place behind the parking lot of the SSU. Trucks would come in, make their deliveries and head back out, so there wont be any problem with traffic.

Housing residents should have nothing to worry about from the outside of the building. It may or may not be so for those eating inside. The construction is set to continue until the end of the summer.

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Students and faculty reflect on potential construction concerns for Bamboo Terrace restaurant

Get your teeth cleaned, then have a burrito. Construction workers are clearing a site for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in the Southeast Plaza at the 800 block of Cypress Gardens Boulevard in Winter Haven. The Chipotle will share the 5,900-square-foot building with the Aspen Dental Clinic. Chipotle already has restaurants on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, and there is another under construction at the former TGIFridays site just north of Lakeland Square mall. Chipotle pioneered the "fast-casual" restaurant style in 1993 in Denver and now has nearly 1,800 restaurants throughout the U.S.

Get your teeth cleaned, then have a burrito. Construction workers are clearing a site for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in the Southeast Plaza at the 800 block of Cypress Gardens Boulevard in Winter Haven. The Chipotle will share the 5,900-square-foot building with the Aspen Dental Clinic. Chipotle already has restaurants on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, and there is another under construction at the former TGIFridays site just north of Lakeland Square mall. Chipotle pioneered the "fast-casual" restaurant style in 1993 in Denver and now has nearly 1,800 restaurants throughout the U.S.

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The Insider: Teeth-Mex

For 10 months, the Neches River Wheelhouse has enticed hungry customers and increased traffic to Port Neches' scenic waterfront.

The restaurant could be the first of many as two Texas developers with Mid-County roots hatch a plan for more construction along the city's 51 acres of prime riverfront real estate.

The pair, Tom Frasier and Mike Bolin, have 180 days to make a pitch to the city or lose exclusive development rights.

City council members agreed Thursday to let Frasier and Bolin - who are originally from Mid-County but now live in Houston and Dallas - take six months to organize their plans. In exchange, the city agreed not to talk to any other developers.

It's too early in the process to determine what price the city would sell the property for or what kind of businesses the developers would bring in, said City Manager Andre Wimer.

The folks at The Wheelhouse are excited to see more interest in the area.

"As a rule of thumb, it's nice to have what's commonly called a restaurant row," said Shag Jordan, the restaurant's general manager.

Most cities have strips hopping with restaurants, bars and retail shops, said Jordan.

He would like to see the waterfront area become Port Neches' restaurant row.

MLibardi@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/ManuellaLibardi

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Duo allowed 6 months to pitch Port Neches riverfront plan

With tax season comes good news for some restaurant developers in downtown Allentown: The taxes they paid on alcohol last year can be recaptured and used to pay off their construction loans.

But their gain is the state's loss, critics note, as millions in newfound tax revenue are removed from the public coffers.

The gaggle of new restaurants that opened last year in Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone around PPL Center can file for the first time to apply the 24 percent tax they paid at state stores to their building debts. And the benefit, which the state Department of Revenue spelled out in guidelines in November, doesn't just apply to Allentown's NIZ.

It also will help developers in Bethlehem's City Revitalization and Improvement Zone as they try to emulate the success of the NIZ.

"Twenty-four percent that's a big number and a big help when you're trying to make the financing come together," said Dennis Benner, whose proposed developments along Third and Fourth streets in Bethlehem's CRIZ could have as many as 10 restaurants. "It's really important that the state has made this decision."

Giving developers access to the alcohol tax money is appropriate, said state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, who wrote the NIZ law. That money wouldn't exist, he noted, if not for the restaurant and bar sales inside the NIZ.

"This is not a windfall for those developers, and it's not a change in the law," Browne said. "It was in the law, and always the intent of the law from its inception."

It's a tax some developers worried they could not tap because it was generated outside the special taxing zones, but they were reassured last fall after the Department of Revenue reviewed the matter. The state hasn't made any major change but clarified the intent of the NIZ law adopted in 2011, Browne said.

Most state tax revenues generated within the 127-acre NIZ can be harnessed by the property owner to pay off building projects that create jobs. It's perhaps the most generous tax incentive ever offered by Pennsylvania and has spurred $1 billion of new development in Allentown, including a hockey arena at Seventh and Hamilton streets.

It's been so successful that it served as the model for similar tax zones in Lancaster and Bethlehem, where the CRIZ features similar tax incentives, with a few added restrictions.

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Booze used to boost development in NIZ, CRIZ

"There's a real opportunity for me to do something very different than I've done before."

This week, Missy Robbins announced her full-on return to professional cooking: She's opening an Italian restaurant in Williamsburg called Lilia with Matt Kliegman, the co-owner of the Smile and Black Seed. It's a much-anticipated comeback, as Robbins stepped down from A Voce and A Voce Columbus (where she earned Michelin stars) in May of 2013, before briefly helping launch Laura Maniec's second location of Corkbuzz. She's been adamant about not wanting to rush the process of opening her own restaurant so we reached out to talk to her about her plans.

We've talked before about you taking the time to find the right project. Why is this the right fit? Matt found the space, but I was a little hesitant to go to Brooklyn. My life is really in Manhattan: I live here and my goal was to open in the West Village. That was really the dream. But, as the search went on, I wanted to be open-minded. I always said that I didn't want to open a restaurant just for the sake of opening a restaurant. I wanted to find a really cool space and do it with the right people.

And when I saw the space, it was really unique and amazing. It's a former auto-body garage, and it just has this amazing height on the ceilings, and amazing windows. In Williamsburg, there's a real opportunity for me to do something very different than I've done before. I've worked in all sorts of high-end neighborhoods my whole career, and very high-end places. This still allows me to cook my food, but also be a part of a community that I'm not totally familiar with, and get out of my comfort zone.

How long did it take you to decide? It took me a long time to make the decision. It was a lot of contemplation and a lot of getting to know Matt. I started talking to Matt in the summer, actually.

There are no guarantees in life. I met with a lot of great people over the last year and a half, and there were a lot of opportunities out there. Matt brings something a little different to the table. He's a downtown guy, and had a raw enthusiasm for this project.

And when's your projected opening date? We're shooting for early summer. Construction's working.

You've said that you're going to serve "your food." Can you elaborate? I know that's a weird thing to say, but I'm 43 years old you can't just all of a sudden change the way you cook. First of all, we're going to have a really beautiful, wood-burning grill, which will be a big centerpiece. I still really want to focus on pasta. And there'll be a big focus on fish and vegetables. The food will be very similar to what you've seen me do before, but a little toned down. The place is definitely more casual than A Voce.

So a lower price point, too? It'll be a little lower than A Voce. We want to be a fabric of the neighborhood, and we have this to-go caf component as well a very small caf. We're a couple blocks from McCarren Park so, you know, we hope we get a lot of traffic from that.

I remember you said that during your time off, you prioritized your health. Will that translate to your cooking at the restaurant? That's more of a personal thing, but I definitely think that my viewpoint on food has changed a lot, and that it will translate to the cooking. But pasta is like my first love. I want to cook really great, crave-able food again, but I don't use a crazy amount of butter, anyway. I turn more toward vinaigrettes and acids and herbs and chiles to look for flavor, rather than sort of heavier ingredients.

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Why Missy Robbins Chose Williamsburg for Her New Restaurant

ST. PETERSBURG

farm to table restaurant opening soon

Pie Topia, a farm to table Italian restaurant, is opening soon at 5226 Fourth St. N. The 100-seat eatery will offer menu items based on local produce. Fresh mozzarella cheese will be made in house. A "pizza maestro" who just came here from Italy after training in Venice will make many combinations of pies. Along with baked dishes, Pie Topia will offer a special "meter long" pizza that's 39 inches in length and 5 inches wide. Prices and hours have not been set, according to a spokeswoman, who said the restaurant should open this month.

LARGO

Largo considering ban on e-cigarettes

Commissioners on Tuesday tentatively approved a ban on the smoking of e-cigarettes in city-owned buildings. The ban will not become effective until after final approval, which is scheduled for the Largo commission's March 3 meeting.

LARGO

Police to add new dog to canine unit

Commissioners here agreed to spend up to $10,000 to buy a dog for Largo's canine police unit. The dog will replace Jet, who is retiring after eight years on the force. Largo's canine unit has four dogs, allowing the Police Department to have at least one dog on duty during peak hours of the day. That staffing level also allows one dog to be on its normal patrol duties while another is used for special events and emergencies. The money will come from the department's confiscated property funds.

SEMINOLE

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Italian restaurant to open on Fourth Street in St. Petersburg

WESLEY CHAPEL Culver's, the popular restaurant best known in the Midwest for its ButterBurgers, plans to open a second location in Pasco County, and its target audience now will be the shoppers at the Tampa Premium Outlets mall.

Engineers have submitted preliminary plans with the Pasco County government to build a 4,235-square-foot restaurant at the Cypress Creek Town Center property owned by the Richard E. Jacobs Group. The lot fronts the south side of State Road 56, just east of the intersection with Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

The Cleveland-based Jacobs Group is one of three entities developing the town center project, which calls for 2 million square feet of retail space, restaurants, offices, hotels and a residential community. Simon Property Group is building the 1.1 million-square-foot outlet mall scheduled to open in October, and Sierra Properties of Tampa, the original developer, owns the remaining 240 acres traversed by SR 56.

Culver's also is building a restaurant at U.S. 19 and Ridge Road in Port Richey, on the site of a former used car lot. It has a targeted opening date in April.

Wisconsin-based Culver's debuted in Florida in 2013 and has two restaurants in Tampa and one in Largo. Culver's opened its first restaurant in Sauk City, Wis., in 1984 and now has more than 500 restaurants across 22 states. Besides the burgers, the menu includes frozen custard, fried cheese curds and soups, salads, sandwiches and dinners including fried chicken and pot roast.

The Cypress Creek location is proposed to include 110 seats, a drive-through and covered outdoor seating. An engineer, construction company executive and a representative of the Jacobs Group are scheduled to meet with county staffers next week to discuss the plans.

Culver's restaurant plans second Pasco County location 02/18/15 [Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 5:49pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

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Culver's restaurant plans second Pasco County location

A man working as supervisor at a private restaurant was found hanging in his house at Hennur on Monday. The deceased, Lakshman Gowda, was working with a private restaurant for a year-and-a-half. He got married about eight months ago. On Monday night, he came home after work at around 10 p.m. and went inside his room. Around 2.15 a.m., his wife went inside the room to check on him and found him hanging from the ceiling. Police said that family members informed that he was upset about his job and was depressed.

Falls to death

A 25-year-old construction labourer fell to his death from the 10th floor of an under-construction building in Amruthahalli on Monday. The deceased, Nitin Bhumani, was from West Bengal. He was living at the construction site along with other labourers. On Monday, he was hauling concrete boulders from the ground floor with a pulley when he lost his balance and fell. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital but was declared brought dead.

The Amruthahalli police have booked a case of negligence against site engineer Senthil Kumar, contractor Sandeep Poddar, and site owner Abhijit, police said.

Nitin Bhumani, a labourer, who fell to his death, was from West Bengal

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Restaurant supervisor ends his life