Food Fight! Big Kerfuffle at The Chesterfield, in downtown Dallas. Is The Chesterfield about to become a steak house?

I heard from a couple of in-the-knows about the kerfuffle tonight at The Chesterfield, in downtown Dallas. Nancy Nichols reported most of the melee. To that, add chef fired, threats of kitchen staff mutiny, reconcepting to a more casual steakhouse concept, police… Yep, trouble’s been brewing there for a while.

Opening chef Michael Elhert’s menu is mostly gone. (Elhert was fired at the same time his fiancée, Jennifer Jaco (who was the immensely talented wine director at Bailey’s Prime Plus) was let go. Jaco is now the somm at Del Frisco’s in Dallas–a good get for them.)

Eddie “Lucky” Campbell, the head bartender and a partner with Bailey in The Chesterfield, is standing on quicksand, and Bailey, the guy with the gold rope, is not gonna throw him a lifeline. I wrote about the turmoil at The Chesterfield’s sister resto, Bailey’s Prime Plus, two weeks ago (it’s at the end of this post). There,  I divulged that Bob Sambol, the founder and former owner of Bob’s Steak and Chop House, is said to be helping Bailey retool. Though Sambol won’t comment, I continue to hear that it is true.  (What I couldn’t say two weeks ago was that I had heard The Chesterfield would also be retooled as a casual steakhouse.)

Any insiders want to comment?

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