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Monday, September 15, 2008

Nove, Italian restaurant in Victory Park, closed on Saturday

by Teresa Gubbins

Nove, one of the ill-fated restaurants in Victory Park, closed on Saturday.

Do you suppose her last name is Bush?

"They made the decision to close on Saturday night," said an employee at sister restaurant N9NE. "The owners are not here all the time, so we don't know exactly how it went down, but we are all so bummed."

N9NE continues to do well, but it's a steakhouse, see; Nove served high-end Italian, which Dallas hates. Ghostbar, atop the W Hotel, is also owned by Michael Morton ~~Group~~, and is doing well, according to the N9NE staffer.

Meanwhile, who will trim the statuesque topiaries, located on the patio?

Staff
Verified User
Anonymous

is it high end Italian (ie Nonna) that Dallas hates, or pretentious BS like the stupid bush in the picture?

luniz Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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I suspect it relates to the fact that most of the county is on the Atkins diet.

momzilla Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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TG... Michael Morton is a founder/partner, but it's corporate name is the N9NE Group, not Morton Group. Morton Group (of Restaurants) owns Morton's Steakhouse.

In August 2007 I gave N9NE a year, in a now infamously bloviating thread elsewhere. To re-quote Trooper, they were always a three dressed up as a N9NE.

Billusa99 Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Its, not it's. Mea culpa...

Billusa99 Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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here's the press release (better late than never):

"N9NE Group's Nove Italiano closed its doors Saturday, Sept. 13 following dinner service. Nove was inspired by a restaurant the N9NE Group partners enjoyed in Rome and was an attempt to place Italian dining in the context of 21st century America, while retaining the most authentic elements of Italian cuisine and culture.

'We knew that Nove was a bold concept and came into this well informed about Dallas' resistance to high-end Italian and felt it was something Nove could overcome, unfortunately it didn't work out,' stated N9NE Group.

'Considering the economy and recent number of restaurants closing, including one of our own, we feel fortunate that we have N9NE Steakhouse and Ghostbar, two strong concepts that will be apart of Dallas' for a long time.' "

Teresa Gubbins Staff

1 year, 2 months ago
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thanks billusa!

Teresa Gubbins Staff

1 year, 2 months ago
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Some commonalities between Nove, Bice, and Il Mulino:

(1) All were outposts of non-Dallas chains.

(2) All were in relatively high rent areas.

(3) None had convenient surface parking.

(4) All were quite expensive, pitting them against the established fine dining heavyweights and all newcomers at the price point.

(5) The restaurants neither hewed closely to tradition nor broke new creative ground.

(6) All had expensive interiors (particularly Nove and Il Mulino) that had to be paid for.

(7) All were fairly large restaurants (compared to the size of upper midrange Italian places that seem to succeed--e.g., Adelmo's, Nonna, Mi Piaci, et al.).

(8) None got high and uniform praise from the local food press (or online foodies).

The hows and whys of the failures probably vary somewhat from case to case. But the similarities are strong enough that I wouldn't want to invest in a large, lavish, high-priced, out-of-state Italian restaurant with limited access and parking.

Scott Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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nicely put, scott

i REALLY liked bice and il mulino, both of which were doing "authentic" Italian; Nove was unabashedly Italian-American, and i didn't like it as much. but i'm sad to see it go

Teresa Gubbins Staff

1 year, 2 months ago
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thanks, billusa!

frankstongal Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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It's not the restaurant - it's the LOCATION. Victory Park is not working because the restaurants and retailers have no customers. Victory Park and the AAC were sold with the "promise" of +6,000 new residential units. They have only built 600. Victory Park won't work until it becomes a neighborhood.

SkyHigh Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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The location was not very good. The food matched.

DC Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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High-end Italian food really just does not work in Dallas. The location is "high rent" as we all know and sooner or later that eats into the profits. I sure wish Victory Park would catch-on more, not just during the sporting events. WFAA was hoping to have the "Today Show" effect with people standing outside the studio windows waving and peering in during air times. That would have been nice, sorta NY'ish BUT the few times I have been down there, they actually don't want people waving through the windows when they are doing the news. They shoo you away. Go figure? I don't get that, loosen up and have fun, maybe more people would come on down and watch and eat there. Something new for Dallas.

Russ Vandeveerdonk Verified

1 year, 2 months ago
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It was faux italian in a faux setting (new urbanism).

Failure was predictable.

bobdon000 Anonymous

1 year, 2 months ago
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Agree...Valet was $10 plus tip unless you wanted to walk a half mile and the couple of times I went, our waitress was a huge snooty "B!" High end Italian DOES work in Dallas, if you do it right. Bugatti, Arcodoro, etc.