Restaurant Mogul Tristan Simon Has Left The Building

The mastermind behind many of Dallas' best and brightest restaurant and nightlife concepts is calling it quits. News broke late Thursday via D's Nancy Nichols that Tristan Simon, founder of culinary powerhouse Consilient Restaurants, had been bought out of the business by billionaire partner Tim Headington and resigned from his position as CEO. This comes just on the heels of May's announcement that Consilient would no longer manage any aspect of Headington's hotel properties (namely, CBD Provisions at The Joule and The Front Room at Hotel Lumen).

Simon founded the restaurant empire in 2000 and is largely credited for turning Henderson Avenue into the lively bar- and restaurant-laden strip it is today; the staggering list of concepts under his belt includes Cuba Libre, Alma, Hibiscus, Fireside Pies, Victor Tangos, The Porch, AF+B and CBD Provisions, just to name a few.

He tells Nancy Nichols he has no desire to launch another restaurant group and indicates that his future might include some combination of hotel management, real estate development, consulting and investing. As for Consilient, it's onward and upward, or so it seems; per Leslie Brenner of the Dallas Morning News, "Simon says he now feels comfortable that Consilient's senior management team can effectively run and expand the company in his absence." The group currently has Fireside Pies and AF+B concepts in the works for both Houston and Atlanta. (No mention of what will happen with Grasslands, Consilient's farm-to-table restaurant concept that was planned for The Joule.)

· Tristan Simon Resigns From The Restaurant Business [SideDish]
· Consilient Founder Tristan Simon Talks About Why He Left [Eats Blog]

Victor Tangos. [Photo: Margo Sivin/EDFW]