It’s been over 18 months since DW Bistro closed its doors in the Southwest Valley, after 15 years of great food and a legendary brunch scene. And while there are no plans to resurrect the restaurant, co-founder Bryce Krausman is intent on preserving its spirit by bringing its customers together for special events. In that spirit, Brunch With Bryce launches a four-week Arts District residency this weekend at Main St. Provisions.
Krausman launched the pop-up brunch series this September at Chef Gina Marinelli’s Summerlin Italian restaurant La Strega. Its success inspired him to bring the idea Downtown for four Sundays, starting November 8 and wrapping up on the 29th. This time, his collaborators are Main St. Provisions’ Chef Miguel Tapia and owner Kim Owens.
The idea is less about recreating DW Bistro than preserving what made it a gathering place. The restaurant was known for combining Southwestern American and Jamaican flavors, but Krausman says the real draw was the community that developed around it.
“One thing we did well at DW was build a community within a community, and that’s what everyone’s searching for still,” Krausman told the Food and Loathing podcast.
He noted that he and Owens had discussed working together last year, but he needed time away from DW before returning to the dining room in a new role. He missed his customers, though, and found that the La Strega brunches offered a way to reconnect without operating a restaurant of his own. Krausman now favors taking the concept to restaurants that don’t ordinarily offer brunch, allowing each kitchen to interpret it differently.
“We don’t want you to do DW’s menu. We want you to interpret what we did,” he said.
Brunch isn’t a brand-new concept for Owens. Her steak-focused restaurant offered the meal during its first couple of years of operation, before settling more firmly into its identity as a dinner destination. This time around, however, she’s doing it with an old friend.
“This is going to be more of just like throwing a party for four weeks,” Owens told the podcast. “We both kind of have that same kind of interesting energy in the dining room.”
That party will have some recognizable DW touches, including Krausman’s white chocolate blueberry scones and jerk-style oven-roasted chicken, paired here with Tapia’s macaroni salad. The menu will also reflect the identity Main St. Provisions has developed over its five years in The Arts District.
Tapia’s brunch menu will include dishes like chilaquiles, potato flautas, an omelet and Benedicts with a choice of filet mignon or crab. Diners can also order familiar Main St. Provisions dishes, including short rib dumplings, macaroni and cheese, eggplant fries with salted egg aioli, and the restaurant’s 16-ounce Kurobuta pork chop, served with parsnips for fall. The mix is deliberate: rather than turn another restaurant into a temporary DW Bistro, Krausman wants its kitchen to remain the star.
Cocktails will include variations on Bloody Marys, classic and seasonal mimosas, spritzes and a French 75 made with fig-and-laurel gin. There is no bottomless-drinks package. Both food and cocktails are ordered à la carte.
DJ T-MYK, who worked at DW Bistro, will provide the music, while Krausman and Owens work the dining room. Owens said reservations for the opening Sunday were already nearly full at the time of the interview, though the restaurant expects to accommodate some walk-ins.
Brunch With Bryce runs November 8, 15, 22 and 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Main St. Provisions, 1214 S. Main St. Reservations are recommended through OpenTable.
Listen to the full interview with Krausman and Owens on the November 6 episode of the Food and Loathing podcast.
