Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

 @JeffHouck
 The Stew
 Table Conversations
 StewVision
 Foodspotting
 Email Jeff Houck

Most Recent Entries

• Universities board begins daunting task of creating new university
• USF marketing students finalists in gas promo contest
• USF website pulls together research, services for veterans
• USF Poly budget director Bresler says he’ll fight efforts to fire him
• Incoming Speaker Weatherford speaks at USF conference on college access
• USF St. Pete forms alumni society
• Goodbye Michael Kovac; nanotechnologist, roller coaster lover
• USF Poly administrator resigns; report recommended dismissal
• Anyone For Road Snapper? [Chef Ben Sargent Visits In Key West On “Hook, Line & Dinner.”]
• Universities eye cuts; USF remains quiet
• Banana Bourbon Caramel Cheesecake, Boiled Crawfish, Mussels & Clams [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
• Last USF Poly class graduates; Dockery lays in to “leaders” behind split
• Get your skin checked for free at USF
• Finally the scissors are out for the revamped USF Sun Dome
• Sen. Fasano: Goodman must go in wake of audit showing mismanagement and bullying

More

• The Stew
• The Dirt
• Hot Pursuits
• HOMEwork
• Inside USF
• L Archive
  • Green Lite
  • Bring It!

Monthly Archives

• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011

Owner: ‘This Restaurant Is On Solid Ground.’ [Knife & Co. Promotes Chef, Moves Forward]

Posted Nov 7, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Nov 7, 2011 at 06:13 PM

As I posted earlier today, It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours over at Knife & Co., with chef Gary Moran walking out in the middle of dinner service after the restaurant had been open only four days. His wife, Amy, also left the restaurant.

Late this morning, Knife & Co., posted this message on its Facebook page:

We are happy to announce the new Knife & Co. Executive Chef, Allison Beasman! We appreciate the time & effort that Chef Gary Moran put into helping develop our concept and open the restaurant. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

This is very good news. I’ve followed the career of Beasman (pictured above)  since she worked at SideBern’s in Tampa. I was very glad to see her working as sous chef when I walked in on Saturday to visit the restaurant. She has an abundance of talent to carry off the “rustic southern” menu and the right temperament for the job. It also will be nice to add an all-too-rare female exec chef to Tampa’s ranks.

Knife owner Ron Stewart today called me to say that the account by Amy Moran was “one-sided” and that details in my blog post were “taken out of context.”

He didn’t want to discuss specifics in his dispute with the Morans. In a very even tone of voice, he said, “I don’t want to move in that direction ... I want to take the high road.”

Stewart, who is owning a restaurant for the first time. said he appreciated everything Gary Moran did to get the restaurant off the ground. “Gary has taught me a lot about the restaurant business. The lessons I learned in the last two weeks have been invaluable.”

In my previous blog post, Amy Moran said Stewart asked for “silent service” and for a more reserved interaction with customers. Stewart said that was not the case.

“I never indicated to Gary or Amy that I did not want interaction from guests,” he says. “I asked if Chef Gary if Amy could be less ubiquitous.”

Stewart also said that the Morans never had financial equity in the restaurant as owners. He said that the arrangement called for him to start the restaurant with the initial investment. Once that was paid back, Gary Moran would become an equity partner. “Until we met those metrics, Gary would be chef-partner.”

After Gary Moran left during the middle of dinner service Sunday, Beasman picked up the slack and kept the dinner covers moving with the rest of the staff. It was the restaurant’s largest dinner service yet. Stewart said he and Beasman stayed up until 2 a.m. Monday talking about the restaurant and their vision for the future. Stewart’s son Jay, who has worked as a server at Nordstrom Bistro, will take over front-of-house duties.

Restaurant owners in Tampa, including Kim Bailey of Bailey’s in Old Hyde Park Village, and Gordon Davis or Ciro’s Speakeasy, have called to offer support, Stewart said.

“They said, ‘We’ll get you through this,’” Stewart says. “I got three hours sleep last night.”

Support for Beasman showed up on Facebook as well. including from Michelle Baker of The Refinery in Seminole Heights and from her onetime SideBern’s colleague Asbel Reyes:

“You have gained a person with integrity, heart, value and talent. You have given her a stage now let her perform.”

The southern menu will continue as planned, Stewart said, with a greater emphasis on fresher food and fresher ingredients. One sign that it will retain its direction: Beasman plans to smoke all of Knife & Co.‘s bacon at home, instead of relying on cured bacon from a supplier, because the flavor is so much better.

“I am so happy to have Ally,” he says. “Her concept in the kitchen is incredible. She’s got a great palate.”

Moving forward, the restaurant will open Monday through Wednesday for lunch only - a nod to the heavy lunch crowds from downtown and south Tampa. Supper service will take place on Thursday through Sunday, with brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

“I have no ill feelings for Amy or Gary,” Stewart said. “Part of doing business is that you have things that work out and things that don’t work out. The restaurant is on solid ground.”