New pizza joint near UD welcomes night owls

By Mark Fisher | Friday, November 6, 2009, 06:44 AM

A new carryout and delivery pizza restaurant, Pie Pizzeria, has opened at 1910 Brown St. near the campus of the University of Dayton.

The new pizza place caters to night owls: Pie Pizzeria stays open until 4 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, and until 3 a.m. Monday through Wednesday. It opens at 11 a.m. daily.

Pie Pizzeria is owned by Craig Hatfield of Dayton, who said he has always wanted to own a restaurant. Pie Pizzeria specializes in New York-style pizza by the slice, and offers 16-inch and 18-inch specialty pizzas with nicknames such as the Brooklyn Brawler, Park Avenue Chicken, Madison Square Garden and Broadway Barbecue. The menu also includes oven-baked sandwiches, pasta dishes and salads.

If those pizza nicknames sound familiar to what’s served at Johnny’s Pizzeria — A Slice of New York in Centerville, they are. Hatfield said he has been friends with Johnny’s co-owner Johnny Rivera for 10 years, and Rivera was behind the counter helping Hatfield on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5.

Pie Pizzeria employs 16 people. It is located just north of the Brown Street-Irving Avenue intersection, near the Pine Club restaurant. For more information, call (937) 228-4743.

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Ribbon-cutting today for downtown coffee shop

By Mark Fisher | Friday, November 6, 2009, 05:48 AM

Downtown Dayton’s newest coffee shop — The Ohio Coffee Co., 46 W. Fifth St. — will host a ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration at 7 p.m. today, Nov. 6.

The coffee shop and cafe at the corner of South Ludlow and West Fifth streets, owned by Rob Gray and Rebecca Ledingham, opened its doors on Oct. 1. It offers homemade baked goods, organic teas and coffee from a variety of roasters.

Tonight’s festivities will include food samples from the coffee shop’s menu, live music from five acoustic acts, and a display of the work from local artists.

The Ohio Coffee Co. is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extended evening hours on First Fridays. For more information, call (937) 228-5282.

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Judge extends order shutting down Kettering sports bar

By Mark Fisher | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 06:10 PM

A judge has extended her order shutting down All Stars Sports & Wings in Kettering for at least another week.

A hearing on Thursday, Nov. 5, to determine whether Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Barbara Gorman would grant a preliminary injunction shutting down the sports bar did not wrap up as expected. Gorman will hear additional testimony Tuesday, Nov. 10 and promised a decision by Thursday, Nov. 12 that will determine whether All-Stars can reopen or must remain closed as a civil lawsuit against the sports bar and its owner, Todd Hicks of Beavercreek, moves forward. In the meantime, however, Gorman extended the temporary restraining order that All-Stars must close.

All Stars Sports & Wings opened Sept. 13 in the 4139 Wilmington Pike building that housed a Grindstone Charley’s restaurant until early 2008. The lawsuit against the sports bar and its owner was filed by 8-Ball & Wings, 4515 Salem Ave., Trotwood, and its owner Theodore Somerset, who purchased the sports bar from Hicks in April 2009.

Hicks signed a “non-compete” agreement as part of the sale in which Hicks agreed he would not become involved with a competing sports bar within a radius of 20 miles of the sports bar on Salem Avenue. The lawsuit contends that All-Sports “lies within 20 miles” of 8-Ball & Wings, and that the Trotwood sports bar has suffered a loss of revenue from “the diversion of customers from plaintiff’s business to defendant’s business” and by confusion over the 8-Ball & Wings trademark.

Hicks testified Thursday that his new business is very different from his former one — more of a family restaurant rather than a bar. Somerset testified that the businesses are similar and have a similar menu focus on chicken wings

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College student to open restaurant in Miami Twp.

By Mark Fisher | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 06:59 AM

MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — A new Indian restaurant is poised to open at 9632 Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) — and it’s owned by a college senior who will operate the restaurant with help from his family.

Named Namaste India, the 1,700-square feet restaurant has seating for about 36 people and is located in the strip shopping center that also houses a Scrambler Marie’s restaurant. Its goal is to “provide our customers with the best tasting and largest varieties of Indian food without the long wait and high prices,” according to its web site, which says it will offer “North Indian, South Indian, Gujarati, Indo-Chinese, Chaats and even our exclusive Indian Wraps.” Click here to read the restaurant’s menu.

Namaste India is owned by Sunny Thakkar, a senior at the University of Cincinnati finishing up a psychology degree.

In an email, Thakkar wrote, “We want to bring something fairly new to Dayton — Indian fast food, where there will be a large variety, delivered fast and at a low cost.”

Thakkar said his parents have been successful restaurateurs, “and I want to follow in their footsteps.” His parents and sister will provide “a helping hand” in operating the restaurant, Thakkar said.

The restaurant will open soon, but no date has been set yet, the restaurant owner said. When it does open, Namaste India’s phone number will be (937) 433-0101.

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2 new, competing restaurants coming to Troy

By Mark Fisher | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 10:50 AM

Two new restaurants are coming to Troy — and they’ll compete head-to-head for the burrito market.

Hot Head Burritos will open a restaurant on South Dorset Road just north of Ohio 55 and east of I-75, according to Hot Head co-owner Ray Wiley. Located in a strip shopping center that includes a Subway and a Boston Stoker, the new Hot Head will be the eighth for the small Dayton-based chain that Wiley co-founded.

“We’re shooting for Dec. 15” to open, Wiley said. Customer requests from Troy-area residents who inquired online and at the Huber Heights Hot Head restaurant prompted Wiley to look into a Troy location, he said. The restaurant will open with about 15 employees, Wiley said.

Another burrito specialist, Chipotle, is preparing to open a restaurant on West Main Street west of I-75, in a small strip shopping center in front of the Meijer store that also houses a Panera Bread restaurant.

The 2,400-square-feet restaurant is projected to open in early 2010, said Chipotle spokeswoman Jenna Simenic. It will seat 48 people. Most new Chipotle restaurants open with about 30 employees, Simenic said.

The Denver-based chain operates 900 restaurants nationwide.

Troy Development Director Jim Dando said the two new restaurants will add to an already robust restaurant scene offering south-of-the-border cuisine, including El Sombrero, La Fiesta, El Rancho Grande and Taco Bell.

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Where does a celebrity chef dine on his first visit to Dayton?

By Mark Fisher | Monday, November 2, 2009, 04:42 PM

ART SMITH

So, you’re a celebrity chef and restaurant owner who has cooked for presidents, governors and Oprah, and it’s your first visit to Dayton. Where do you go to eat?

Chef Art Smith went to Mamma DiSalvo’s in Kettering last night (Sunday, Nov. 1), and based on what he has heard from his Dayton friends, he’s looking forward to visiting The Pine Club, the Winds Cafe, and Meadowlark.

That was just one morsel from a quick interview this morning with the highly regarded Chicago chef who has agreed to come to Dayton to help oversee the “Feast of Giving” Thanksgiving Dinner that replaces the annual Beerman dinner. Smith was in town to meet with the other organizers of the event, including ABC 22/Fox 45, Dermatologists of Southwest Ohio and the Dayton Convention Center, at the television station’s studios Monday.

More about the Feast of Giving Dinner and about Art Smith in Friday’s Dayton Daily News Life section. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the restaurant advice Art received?

(Photo by Mark Fisher)

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Friends gather to say ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to Dieter Krug

By Mark Fisher | Sunday, November 1, 2009, 05:49 PM

Friends shared both laughter and tears Sunday, Nov. 1 at a memorial service for Dieter Krug, co-founder of l’Auberge restaurant and mentor to several Dayton-area chefs.

More than 150 people gathered at the Tobias Funeral Home Far Hills Chapel to reminisce and pay tribute to Mr. Krug, who died of an apparent heart attack Oct. 10, during a trip to visit family members in his hometown of Eisenach, Germany. He was 77.

“The friendships and respect that he gained throughout his life are a testament to the kind of man he was,” said Keith Taylor, chef-owner of Savona Restaurant in Centerville who started working under Mr. Krug at l’Auberge in 1992. “He was a father figure to me, and the best mentor anyone could ask for.”

Taylor recalled being “completely terrified” of his mentor on his first day of work, but gradually gaining his approval and trust, and admiring his gentle humor, top-notch culinary skills and legendary work ethic.

“He worked like a man possessed. He outworked people half his age,” Taylor said. “And he could take the simplest of ingredients and get the most flavor out of them. It was something to behold.”

Dominique Fortin, chef-owner of C’est Tout in Oakwood, said Mr. Krug “was a joy to work with in the kitchen,” and marveled as his friend’s ability to “make you laugh when you were down and out.

“If everyone was like Dieter, there would be peace in this world,” Fortin said.

Father Joseph Goetz, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and a good friend of Mr. Krug’s, presided over the service, noting to audience laughter that he was “not quite sure what religion Dieter was,” in part because during his visits to l’Auberge, “I was too busy enjoying his delicious food” to discuss religion.

Mr. Krug “had a gift of making people feel welcome,” Father Goetz said.

Mr. Krug left Germany in 1953 and worked in hotels in Rome and Madrid before moving to the U.S. in 1956. He served as sous chef at The Maisonette in Cincinnati and later as executive chef for the King Cole in Dayton before co-founding l’Auberge in 1979. He retired from l’Auberge in 1999, but was a frequent presence at Savona, C’est Tout and DiSalvo’s Deli in Kettering, where he would collaborate on special dinners and menus.

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