The Hamoudeh brothers have reopened their popular Lebanese restaurant, Ali Baba, at Greenville and Alta. The brothers decided to reopen Ali Baba because “everybody wants Ali Baba,” says chef/owner Nabil Hamoudeh. “Everybody kept asking when we were going to come back.” Hamoudeh and his brothers, Josef and Hicham, emigrated from Syria to Dallas in 1980. The brothers/business partners initially opened Ali Baba in the same location in 1985, closing it in 2008 to focus on other “more profitable” business interests, including their commercial real estate holdings. The Hamoudehs, who own the building that Ali Baba occupies, also owned and operated an imported food store, World Wide Foods, which was adjacent to Ali Baba, from 1981 to 2007.
The Greenville Ali Baba is not to be confused with the Ali Baba that opened at 1901 Abrams in 2007, which, likewise, was originally located on Greenville. The Ali Baba on Abrams is owned and operated by the Chanaa brothers, Adam and Jalal. The Chanaas relocated and moved to Lakewood after a successful run on Greenville since the early ’90s, and have since opened two more Ali Baba restaurants in Richardson and Las Colinas. The brothers also launched a new concept restaurant, Terra, this year with restaurants in Allen and Fort Worth. Terra features the same Ali Baba cuisine, but in a finer dining environment.
In other food news, Green Room, has reopened at 2715 Elm Street with new owners. The popular Deep Ellum music and food venue closed in 2006 after the original owners ran into financial trouble stemming from lawsuits associated with a high-profile brawl at another of their venues, The Gypsy Tea Room. Taylor Allday and Zenon Oprysk of East Dallas are two of the new owners and were members of the original Green Room management team. Allday was a founder of Thomas Avenue Beverage Co., known as TABC, in Uptown .
Joel Harloff, an East Dallas resident, has been recruited to work at the reincarnation. Harloff is introducing a menu similar to the original, “modern American cuisine with European influences”, and Green Room devotees will be pleased to know Harloff is also bringing back “Feed-Me-Wine-Me”, a four-course meal with wine pairings, priced at $68 per person ($47 sans wine). Green Room is open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday beginning at 5 p.m., and the owners hope to add lunch and brunch service soon.
Keeping it all in the family, Brynn Bagot Public Relations, the agency promoting the launch of Green Room, is owned by Allday’s wife, Brynn Bagot Allday. The Alldays have been M Streets residents for almost 10 years, and Brynn Allday has built her company by working with other local businesses, including Potter Art Metal Studios and Twisted Root Burger Co. Allday was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal as one of “40 Rising Stars Under 40” in the Dallas-Fort Worth business world.
After relocating from Fair Park to Greenville Avenue a year ago, IbC Design Studio is expanding in to the space vacated when Lula B’s Antique Mall moved to Deep Ellum. Home of Isabella Collection, a line of luxury bedding owned and designed by Kathy Fielder, IbC Studio is also a production facility for Fielder’s product line. The expansion gives her more retail space as well as design space and manufacturing equipment. Fielder moved her studio and headquarters to be closer to her East Dallas home — and now she can walk to work, if so inclined. IbC, first released in November 2005 and named after and inspired by Fielder’s daughter, is carried by retailers throughout the United States (including heavy weights Neiman Marcus and Horchow), Canada, Mexico and Europe.
In addition to readymade bedding, draperies, accessories and linens, IbC Design Studio typically has more than 1,500 fabrics and trims in stock for custom projects and designers. Tip: The showroom/production facility is a great place for locals to stop in and get overstock inventory and samples at a discount.
Lori Trent’s tenure in retail began 20-plus years ago after stepping in to help her husband, Matthew Trent, a premier jeweler and jewelry designer, manage his business (matthewtrent.com). About five years ago, Lori Trent got the retail bug and opened The T Shop in the corner of a room at her husband’s store in a 100-year-old house in Uptown, where she could sell oddities and unique gift items. A few years later, after hosting a private sale in her Lakewood home that resulted in “the best single day sales ever,” she told him: “That’s it — I’m opening my own store.”
Trent opened a second T Shop (T for Trent) a little over a year ago at 1911 Abrams Parkway. The specialty shop is filled with candles, handmade jewelry, clothing, books and cards, and it even has a kid’s corner and a design area in back where Trent can indulge in a favorite pastime, putting together fresh floral arrangements, which have become a popular purchase for many customers. Trent is gearing up for fall book club meetings, which will be on occasional Friday nights. “People can stop in to the shop to see what books we’re reading, choose one or more, or none, and come up to the shop to enjoy wine and conversation,” Trent says. “Reading the books is definitely not critical or required to join us for the evening.” Book club selections are available for purchase at The T Shop. Visit The T Shop’s website, thetrentshop.com, for more information. The shop is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
