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Dining News: Kelley Lee's New Concept, Sakesan's For Sale, L'Ecailler's Closed, Changes at Bloc

Lots going on in F&B land as we approach the year's end. Let's start with some good news first. Kelley Lee, the American chef / restaurateur behind Cantina Agave, Boxing Cat and The Alchemist has y...
Last updated: 2015-11-09
Lots going on in F&B land as we approach the year's end. Let's start with some good news first.

Kelley Lee, the American chef / restaurateur behind Cantina Agave, Boxing Cat and The Alchemist has yet another concept in the works. This one's a quick-service healthy soup and salad concept called Sproutworks.

The location is just across the street from the Fumin Lu branch of Cantina in that glass atrium with the distinctive rock formation at the corner of Xinle Lu and Donghu Lu. It's had a number of incarnations over the years: a severely mediocre cafe and, more recently, a perpetually empty yakitori joint. Lee had been watching the spot like a hawk for well over a year before the previous tenants finally gave in and handed her the lease.

Remodeling is well underway. The rock formation remains; it's a protected historical relic, apparently. Lee tells me it was put there by "a gangster" who I can only assume was the infamous Du Yuesheng, a.k.a. "Big Ears" Du. But it'll no longer be the centerpiece of the restaurant. Rather than building around it and incorporating it into the design, Lee and Co. are simply covering it up. Expect an early January opening.

Turning our attentions to the riverfront, fancy French-style seafood restaurant L'Ecailler quietly closed its doors last week.

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