Chef David Grossman is closing Branch Water Tavern and selling the menu and recipes to Bistro des Amis owner Matt Brice, who says he will open The Federal Grill in the Magnolia Grove spot shown above at 510 South Shepherd Dr. sometime this spring. Grossman opened Branch Water Tavern here 3 years ago behind that wood-and-rusted-steel facade in the building that used to house Cue & Cushion. Grossman tells Eater Houston that he is taking the Branch Water name with him — maybe somewhere outside the Loop, where he will plan a less expensive menu; Grossman means as well to help his fiancee Julia Sharaby get her Fusion Taco truck into a freestanding spot and off the streets.
Not for a couple more shrink-swell cycles, at least. A reader heralds the coming cataclysm: “Shepherd between Memorial and I-10 has begun to experience a transfiguration ranking with the most sublime heavenly experiences in the history of mankind: Milling trucks have been scraping the ragged, churned old asphalt in preparation for a new road, a new land, a new Jerusalem! Yes — fresh, smooth, new pavement on Shepherd Drive! Hallelujah!” Photo: Rachel Dvoretzky
