I used to love Twist. But since the Jean-Robert Restaurant Group became the Relish Group, I've sort of avoided those locations on principle. (The principle being I love Jean-Robert.)

You may have noticed that Twist is currently closed. It will re-open in mid-September with a new name – Tonic Union – and Pigall's will re-open with a new restaurant concept. Are they renaming Pigall's? I'm not sure and I have mixed emotions about it. There's a lot of wonderful culinary history with that name, but at the same time, I don't want to possibly see the name mistreated.

The new restaurant will serve American cuisine that sort of sounds like gourmet comfort food. The Business Courier quoted Relish Group COO Justin Dean as saying, “It’s grandma’s recipes retooled with a nice little twist."

The new chef, Steven Geddes, is a Las Vegas restaurant consultant and also a Master Sommelier, which is good news. The pairings should be excellent and I expect him to have a broad understanding of how food and wine can enhance each other. The sous chef is Kyle Johnson, who recently worked for Celebrity Cruise lines. (Having just stepped off a Celebrity Cruise, I can't say I was overly impressed with their food.)

As for Twist, I'm sad to say it will be redecorated. I really hope they keep those beautiful round chandeliers that Jean-Robert ordered from France, or that somehow Jean-Robert gets to reacquire those. They were one of my favorite things at Twist, aside from the champagne.  If the Wades plan to match the decor to the food next door, I'll just cross my fingers.

UPDATED: Apparently the new name for Pigall's will be Local 127. I suppose that sort of works with Tonic Union next door, but admittedly, the whole thing sort of brings a steelworker/Allentown sort of motif to my mind.

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