After months of construction delays, coming-soon restaurant The Mayor’s House in Oak Cliff announced it will open without originating chef Graham Dodds.
A press release says "the two will be parting ways due to construction delays and a timing conflict." A new chef has not been announced yet. Dodds confirmed he no longer works there.
The restaurant was expected to open in May of 2019. It's located in a renovated house on N. Zang Boulevard in Oak Cliff that gets its name because George Sergeant, who was a Dallas mayor from 1935 to 1937, lived in the 109-year-old home.
Restaurant co-owners A.J. Gilbert and Martha Madison are still involved in The Mayor's House.
Gilbert says the approach of the restaurant will be to serve "locally sourced and inspired cuisine — dishes that are familiar favorites — using the best quality ingredients in a fun, spirited atmosphere."
The menu that Dodds created for The Mayor's House will not be used, he says.
Dodds' most recent project before The Mayor's House was as the culinary director for the Statler Hotel. That job ended in fall 2018. Our restaurant critic reports that while Dodds was working on The Mayor's House, he was also consulting for Celebration, a restaurant on Lovers Lane in Dallas whose founder died tragically when he fell to his death in Big Bend National Park last year.
Dodds has a history in Dallas dining, working at Bolsa and the now-shuttered restaurants Wayward Sons and Hibiscus.
