Burgers and Italian Food to Fill the Void Left By Village Kitchen and Toko V

The two-story Highland Park Village void created by the quick turnover of Village Kitchen and Toko V will get new tenants in early 2015, reports D's Nancy Nichols: "a burger and milkshakes joint" called K.T. Burger, and 5 Creeks Tavern, which, despite its rather generic American sounding name, sounds decidedly Italian. Nichols says it will feature a Stefano Ferrara pizza oven (the pricey Italian imports you'll find at Cane Rosso) and a menu of fresh pastas, "pizza, panini, and other sandwiches," plus beer and wine on tap.

The pair of new concepts are brought to you by Ray Washburne of restaurant group MCrowd (Mi Cocina, et al.) and restaurateur Buddy Cramer, who, as Nichols explains, are "the main team behind both Katy Trail Ice House locations and Bandito’s Tex-Mex Restaurant." Interestingly, Nichols also says "Washburne and Cramer toyed with the idea of bringing Shake Shack to HPV, but decided to do their own thing." (Despite Shake Shack's impending invasion of Austin and rumors that they're scouting for locations here, the beloved NYC-based burger chain has yet to confirm any future plans for Dallas.)

Village Kitchen and Toko V were the two disparate concepts overseen by chef Andre Natera that resulted from a revamp of Marquee Grill; they were in business just eight and six months, respectively.