Latest news with #restaurantOpening
Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
First Look: JP McMahon's new Kombu Ramen and Bao Bar – ‘I don't know how to do anything else. I like opening restaurants'
It's all systems go in the dining space at the Druid Theatre in Galway , as JP McMahon prepares to open his latest venture. Highly regarded for his strong Irish menus at Michelin-starred restaurant Aniar , JP also owns the more casual Cava tapas and wine bar. Always on the go, JP holds a PhD in drama and theatre, he paints, and has published several cookbooks and books on Irish food. 'My daughter asked me why I'm opening another restaurant. I said I just don't know how to do anything else. I like opening restaurants.' When former resident Éan closed its doors towards the end of 2024, it left a gap in the city's casual dining options. JP entered into discussions with the Druid Theatre about taking over the food operation and a deal was struck in April which gave him the green light to start preparing for the opening of a casual eatery in the middle of Galway city. READ MORE 'I'd wanted to open a Japanese restaurant since 2019, but Covid got in the way of early plans for a restaurant and townhouse on Dominick Street Lower. In hindsight, that might not have been a bad thing,' he says. Why a Japanese-style restaurant? 'I love cooking different flavours of food and teaching them in my cooking classes. Over the years I've spent in the kitchen, I got more and more into Japanese cooking and ingredients, mainly a result of developing dishes for Aniar. Kombu will be an homage to Japan in the same way as Cava is an homage to Spain, and will be a space where people can pop in and out.' As some of the beautiful stone walls at the Druid Theatre are protected, JP has been limited in the changes he could make to this lovely space. Local artist Tracey Moca has been commissioned to bring life to the diningroom and bathrooms with vibrant graffiti art, which will match the urban hip-hop style playlist from friend and fellow chef Matt Orlando. Art by Tracey Moca features on Kombu's walls. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy Head of operations Abigail Colleran outside Kombu on Druid Lane. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy The biggest change, however, has taken place in the kitchen, which has been replaced by a custom-designed layout designed to match the menu and ensure that food gets to customers as efficiently as possible. [ Summer 2025: 100 great restaurants, cafes and places to eat around Ireland Opens in new window ] 'I learned this lesson a long time ago – not to work bric-a-brac style, adding on piecemeal to existing kitchens. It doesn't work in the long run. I wanted an efficient kitchen that is also the best possible environment for my staff. We use induction hobs, which means lower temperatures, making it easier to move and an overall nicer environment. We will, however, still have a charcoal grill to give that special charred finish to yakitori and other dishes.' Sections on the menu include bao buns, noodles, rice dishes, yakitori skewers, small plates and sweet things. And while this may look as expected for a casual Japanese-style restaurant, JP and head chef Gabriel Ossani just can't help showing their fine-dining background. Head chef Gabriel Ossani hard at work in Kombu. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy Pork belly from Andarl Farm is marinated in sake, soy and mirin for 14 hours before being cooked and finding its way into pork belly bao or ramen. Other eye-catching options include Sichuan-inspired Dan Dan noodles, smoked eel rice and the cult katsu sando or crispy Japanese pork sandwich. For dessert, diners can choose between a bao bun filled with chocolate cremeux flavoured with wasabi salt or soft-serve ice-cream topped with crumbled meringue and delicate dried fruits. [ JP McMahon explains why he decided to close his popular Galway restaurant Tartare Opens in new window ] Prices will range from €7.50 for a vegetarian maitake mushroom bao all the way to €19.50 for beef chef teriyaki. It was important to JP to ensure that customers could have options under €10 for a quick meal. Desserts will come in around the €9 mark. The food is accompanied by a short curated list of organic, biodynamic and natural wines, developed in conjunction with JP's existing suppliers, in addition to sakes, beers, soft drinks and non-alcoholic options. There is room for about 50 people indoors, with 35 seats available for reservation in the main diningroom, with another 15 high-top tables kept for walk-ins. An additional 10 diners can be accommodated outside on a walk-in basis, weather permitting. Dogs are welcome inside and out. Kombu will initially open five nights a week, Tuesday-Thursday 5pm to close, Friday 4pm to close and Saturday 3pm to close. There are plans to launch a Sunday brunch, including cocktails, after the summer months, and the long-term goal is to open seven days a week. Kombu opens on Friday, July 11th
South China Morning Post
08-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend food guide for July 11-13
Besides the bar events blasting Hong Kong's cocktail scene this week, the city has been blessed with an abundance of new restaurant openings. Whether Korean comfort food or affordable Sichuan cuisine, fill your plates and spend this weekend tasting the new joints in town before the French holiday Bastille Day arrives on Monday. Advertisement If you're looking to make a special reservation this week, the 2025 100 Top Tables Guide can help you pick the perfect spot. Friday, July 11 Sichuan Rouge – a new restaurant in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong – features dishes like boiled hand-cut beef. Photo: Sichuan Rouge Sichuan Rouge, helmed by renowned Sichuan chef Hu Taiqing and home-grown veteran Kenny Chan, just soft launched. The restaurant aims to showcase affordable, fine Sichuan cuisine with authentic ingredients sourced from Sichuan and Chongqing. Challenging the notion that Sichuan food is solely about numbing spiciness, the menu offers a rich and complex array of flavours, from razor clams with Sichuan peppercorn to the popular Chengdu street food of sliced beef and ox tripe in chilli sauce. Other highlights include the succulent deep-fried sliced beef with Sichuan peppercorn and rock salt, chilled South African abalone with Hangzhou chilli, and young pigeon with pepper. Where: 27/F, Soundwill Plaza II, Midtown, 1-29 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay Saturday, July 12 Korea's premium tteokbokki pot restaurant chain, Young Dabang, is now open in Sha Tin. Photo: Young Dabang Korea's premium tteokbokki pot restaurant chain, Young Dabang, has opened its first Hong Kong location at Sha Tin's New Town Plaza, serving up popular Korean soul food while paying homage to the 1980s coffee shops that served as neighbourhood gathering spots in Korea.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Popular St. Louis-based BBQ joint to open first Illinois restaurant in metro-east
St. Louis-based Salt + Smoke announced Wednesday that it will open its eighth restaurant – and its first Illinois location – later this year at 410 N. Main St. in Edwardsville. 'We've been fortunate to grow alongside our amazing community, and we're thrilled to cross the river and bring Salt + Smoke to the Metro East,' Tom Schmidt, founder and owner of Salt + Smoke, stated in the release. 'This town has such a vibrant food scene and welcoming energy. We can't wait to be a part of it.' Known for its award-winning smoked meats, house-made side dishes and a curated selection of bourbon and beer, Salt + Smoke will reside in the city's old fire station. The eatery will be part of a development that includes a four-story office building on one side and 30 luxury apartments on the other. The restaurant will connect them in the middle, according to the release. Additional information about the Edwardsville restaurant will be announced as the development progresses. Salt + Smoke was founded in St. Louis and opened its first restaurant in 2014. The eatery announced earlier this year that it would open a location at 110 S. Kirkwood Road this summer. Other restaurants are located at the Delmar Loop, Hampton Avenue, Ballpark Village and South County in St. Louis, and St. Charles and Ellisville, Missouri. For more information, visit or follow the business on Facebook.
Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Aplos Announces the Launch of Its Third Location in Oxford, Marking a Milestone in Its 10-Year Growth Plan
06/17/2025, Jackson, Mississippi // PRODIGY: Feature Story // Aplós, the Mediterranean restaurant known for its fresh ingredients and strong community values, has announced the opening of its third location in Oxford, Mississippi, slated for late summer 2026. This new venue represents a pivotal step in the brand's growth, marking its first out-of-town expansion and the start of a 10-year vision to scale across the Southeastern United States. The Oxford location will be built outside the town square, a strategic move aimed at serving both the city's growing local population and the influx of students from nearby universities. Founder and executive chef Alex Eaton explains, 'Oxford is a vibrant college town, but its growth has outpaced the infrastructure around the square. We saw an opportunity to be part of the community where people live, study, and spend their weekends, not just where they party.' The decision to expand to Oxford was not made lightly. It followed careful planning, community engagement, and groundwork to ensure Aplós doesn't just arrive but truly belong to the community. Eaton has already met with local officials and planners to understand how Aplós can contribute meaningfully to the area. 'For me, it's not enough to have good food and a good-looking brand,' Eaton says. 'We want to be woven into the community fabric, partnering with schools, giving students work experience, and showing up where it matters.' This emphasis on local connection is part of what Eaton calls the 'recipe for the brand.' Inspired by his years working in the fine dining kitchens of New Orleans and his Lebanese heritage, Aplós combines Mediterranean simplicity with Southern hospitality. However, Eaton believes that a healthy business starts with people. 'Before we grow, we have to grow our executive team, our culture, our values,' he says. 'You can't build a restaurant in a new city if the foundation is not rock solid.' Oxford will be the third Aplós location, following successful openings in Jackson and Ridgeland, Mississippi. The new location will sit alongside key community spaces, a high school, a movie theater, and new student apartment beds, giving it direct access to a mix of families, students, and young professionals. 'This is not about replicating a chain,' Eaton says. 'Each location of Aplós should feel like its own thing. That's how we avoid becoming just another brand.' The long-term plan is ambitious. Eaton and his team are eyeing 10 Aplós locations in 10 years, with targeted growth in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and eventually Arkansas and Texas. 'We are focused on what I call 'community-centric development,'' says Eaton. 'If we are going to grow, it's got to be in places where we can be more than a restaurant. We need to be a job creator, a support system, a gathering spot.' As the brand expands, Aplós will continue to invest in business coaching, internal leadership development, and youth employment programs. The company already works with high schools and plans to collaborate with hospitality colleges to offer credit-earning internships. 'Growth is one of our core values,' says Eaton. 'If you're not growing, whether as a dishwasher or a regional manager, you are probably in the wrong place.' At its core, the Oxford expansion is a litmus test. 'Back home, people support us because they know me,' Eaton says. 'Oxford is different. People don't care who I am; they will judge us by our product, our team, and how we show up in their community. That's what makes this so real.' If all goes according to plan, the Oxford launch will be the start of something much bigger than just another restaurant. It will be the blueprint for how Aplós grows, with integrity, intentionality, and local roots firmly planted in every community it joins. Media Contact Name: Elizabeth Lanza Email: [email protected]
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Construction fencing is down at Kennewick Chick-fil-A. Opening appears imminent
The opening of the Tri-Cities' first Chick-fil-A appears imminent. Workers removed fencing from the construction site, 7009 W. Canal, on Friday. The Atlanta-based chicken chain posted the restaurant would open in June on a business identifier posted to Google Maps. It did not give a date. A spokesperson for the company said an opening date could be shared on Monday. In the interim, the Benton Franklin Health District inspected the restaurant on June 4, a key step before it can open. Results were pending on Friday. Dawn Hodges, a Kennewick entrepreneur and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is the owner and operator of the much-anticipated addition to the Tri-Cities restaurant scene. Chick-fil-A confirmed it would open its first store in the Tri-Cities a little more than a year ago. It settled on a former parking lot next to Wendy's in the Hobby Lobby shopping center in western Kennewick. it is putting the finishing touches on a 4,927-square-foot restaurant, which includes 99 parking stalls, seating for 76 and a covered dual-lane drive-thru. It began hiring more than a month ago. Go to for job postings. It has reportedly scouted sites for a second restaurant in Richland's Queensgate area.
