Proof + Pantry Shutters After Tumultuous Time in the Arts District

Proof + Pantry in One Arts Plaza has just closed up shop, reportedly due to reduced foot traffic, which ultimately led to its demise.

Apparently, the shuttering was announced via a sign posted on the door over a week ago, CultureMap reports.

When Eater spoke with the restaurant’s chef, Nick Hurry, last month, he alluded to problems plaguing the restaurant behind the scenes, saying the eatery was “just scraping by.” In late April, he was in the midst of a menu revamp, which the restaurant hoped would draw more diners during non-peak times, like when there aren’t shows happening in the otherwise deserted Arts District.

“When it was just us and two other restaurants, we did really well,” Hurry told Eater in April, attributing many of the eatery’s woes to the stiff competition that moved into the already saturated district, including Flora Street Cafe and Musume. “We’re not the cool go-to spot anymore, so we’re not getting the foodie crowd that we used to get.”

However, as late as April 24, the eatery was still holding on. Hurry emailed Eater with revamped menus that were geared toward a new robust cocktail program and simple bites like salads, burgers, and charcuterie, straying from the esoteric dishes that had characterized the eatery’s cuisine.

“I used to think if I did nice food, people would appreciate it, and we’d keep a good crowd — I had a nice oxtail mille feuille; foie with spiced cake and tart cherry stew; lamb ribeye with pommes anna, and Basque salsa verde,” Hurry wrote. “Lately I’ve noticed less and less people wanting to dine that way.”

Hurry also said the restaurant’s highly publicized falling-out with Leslie Brenner, the Dallas Morning News’ food critic at the time of its opening in 2014, cast a dark cloud over the eatery that was difficult to shake.

• High-profile restaurant in Dallas’ troubled One Arts Plaza shuts down [CultureMap]
• Proof & Pantry Refuses to Be Reviewed by Leslie Brenner (Updated) [EDFW]