Chef Tim Byres’ Smoke Plano, chef Matt McCallister’s Filament Restaurant in Deep Ellum both closing today; “We tried to make it work”

I hate writing about restaurant closures, but as Chris Zielke, co-owner of Smoke Plano reminded me in confiming his restaurant’s shuttering following brunch service today that it’s just one part of the gig. Tipsters started messaging me last night that the closures were coming.

You can still get Smoke’s Big Rib at the original location at the Belmont Hotel

Smoke Plano has closed

Smoke Plano is the northern offshoot of Smoke restaruant in East Dallas, which will remain open. The Plano Smoke opened in November 2015.

In confirming the closure, Zeilke says he and his team (which includes chef Tim Byres and Chris Jeffers) want “to publicly thank our landlords at Eden, the city of Plano, the neighborhoods of Willow Bend, Prestonwood, and the other surrounding thirteen neighborhood associations. We would also like to thank the many employees, past and current, who have contributed their time to help us try to succeed. We have made many great friends and employed a ton of great people. We will be relocating our current staff to our other locations. We truly tried to make it work but to put it simply there is no more gas left in the tank. Thank you for your support. We could not have made it this far without the communities support.”

Zielke’s and Jeffers’ next project — running F&B at the Statler Hotel Dallas — will keep them pretty busy.

On the other hand, Matt McCallister looks like he’ll have a little more free time on his hands.

The chef and owner of Filament in Deep Ellum and FT33 in the Dallas Design District is pulling the plug on Filament today.

“Yes it’s true,” McCallister told me in confirming the closure. “We gave it a good try but the writing has been on the wall for a year now.” Filament opened a year-and-a-half ago.

Filament opened with a big splash but couldn’t sustain the business

In addition, he’s stepped away from plans to open Bao Down, a grab-and-go bao sandwich shop planned for Legacy Hall, the ginormous food hall slated to open this year.

photos: Smoke Plano, Filament, Escapehatchdallas.com