|
Up
| |
Sambuca Jazz Cafe: Music, Food and Art
In an ‘Urban Jungle’
Southern Living Magazine’s Les Thomas said,
““There hasn’t been a cooler supper club since Bogart ran Rick’s
Place.” He was talking about Sambuca Jazz Cafe, a five-location restaurant
chain based in Carrolton, Texas.
Sambuca serves Mediterranean cuisine, with a focus on fresh, seasonal
ingredients. Specialties from France, Greece, Italy and North Africa comprise
the menu, along with nightly specials. It also has on- and off-site catering.
Sambuca was voted “Best Jazz Restaurant” ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97
and ’98 by the Dallas Observer. All Sambuca locations feature live music seven
nights a week, with performances spanning the many styles of jazz from
straight-ahead traditional jazz to bee-bop to superb vocalists to the
distinctive sounds of jazz harp and guitar.
The parent company, Sambuca Group Inc., has locations in downtown Dallas, North
Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, and Denver.
The downtown Dallas Sambuca opened in 1991 in an artsy warehouse district called
Deep Ellum, an eclectic area full of galleries, shops, restaurants and
nightclubs. The cafe is reminiscent of a Chicago Speakeasy on the cutting edge.
Addison, a Dallas suburb boasting the highest concentration of restaurants in
the United States, houses the North Dallas Sambuca, one of the most popular
restaurants in the area. The building’s exterior resembles a Frank Lloyd
Wright creation, while the interior boasts an “Urban Jungle” scene, complete
with exotic faux animal prints. For private parties, Sambuca’s Moroccan Room
features loose pillows throughout, taking a different approach to entertaining
in luxury and style.
The Atlanta Sambuca is located in Buckhead, a diverse district that combines the
unique flare of Addison with the coolness of Deep Ellum. Dramatic angles and
curves highlight the exterior, while the interior is a display of rich golden
tones, warm suede hues and bold animal prints. There is also a Moroccan Room for
private parties.
The fourth Sambuca is housed in Houston’s historic Rice Hotel, Houston’s
newest urban revival project. The restaurant mixes “Urban Jungle” with
recycled brick and steel columns. Large round booths and a private balcony
accommodate large parties, and a separate cigar lounge puts one in mind of
Bogart in Casablanca.
The newest Sambuca is located in Lower Downtown Denver, or LoDo, as the locals
call it. Neighbored by historic buildings, art galleries, clothing boutiques and
other restaurants, Sambuca has found its niche in Denver. Like Buckhead, Denver
also has a private Moroccan Room for entertaining small and large parties.
Sambuca Jazz menus read like old favorites with an added twist. Appetizers such
as Black Tiger Shrimp, for example is topped with a harissa sauce and served
with herbed couscous, a Greek pasta. The crab cakes are served with a wasabi
tartar sauce. The escargot are stuffed with tomato garlic cream and baked in a
puff pastry. Perhaps not so familiar to the American palate is tabbouleh, hummus
and baba ghanoush (no, that’s not the comedy act, it’s an appetizer made up
of two grain dishes and a salad).
With a name like Sambuca Jazz, there had better be music, and music there is. At
the Addison venue, a featured artist is vocalist Genie Grant, who performed at
the Deep Ellum club every Sunday night for the past three years. She has built a
loyal following of fans and jazz enthusiasts, helping to make Sambuca, as the
Dallas Morning News put it in and August issue, “Reason #1 to get out of the
house on a Sunday night in Dallas.”
Also at Addison, Bobby Riese is an accomplished performer and composer with more
than 25 years of professional experience. He has played with Norman Brown, Tommy
Tedesco, Scott Henderson and a host of other jazz musicians.
In Atlanta, the featured artist is Del Baroni, a vocalist who, with his band,
performs standard jazz tunes using unison guitar and vibes to create a special
sound reminiscent of George Shearing, Nat Cole and more recently, Diana Krall.
He moved to Atlanta in 1987 and has done studio and film work as well as live
performances, making Del Atlanta’s “first call” swing-era vocalist.
At the Houston Sambuca, a featured artist is Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company.
Brian is touring in support of his latest CD, “Soulmates.” Besides being a
jazz professor at Oklahoma City University, Brian has performed and toured with
The Manhattan Transfer, Louie Bellson, Phil Woods, Slim Man, Pattie Page and
even a stint as pianist for the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.
Joseph Vincelli, a guest favorite at all the Sambuca Jazz Cafes, is celebrating
the release of his seventh CD, “In Concert Most Requested Tunes, Performed
Live.”
Sambuca Group is looking for new locations in downtowns with historic
renovations and is willing to go nationwide. The company needs a trade area with
2 million people and typically signs 10-year leases with options on 7,500
square-foot spaces. It plans to open at least two locations per year and
requires a vanilla shell with tenant improvement allowances.
For information, contact Holly Forsythe, Sambuca Group Inc., 3333 Earhart #140,
Carrolton, TX 75006; phone 972-458-0800, fax 972-458-0965, email hforsythe@teletam.net,
Web site www.sambucajazz.com.
|