It’s not closing. Probably. Jeff at Chilly Billy’s says Scott and Cheri are leaving the island but a former chef from Asolare and Tage, is taking over the business. Paul Trujillo will continue the night time gourmet restaurant operation. The rest of the staff will also be staying. For now, the menu will stay the same.
BUT … while 10 Tables may be staying, is Chilly Billy’s? The business is again listed for sale, priced this time at $375,000. Assets include a lease good until 2014. "Great Ocean View!," the offering says. (Sure, if you can see past the car barges and the truck traffic on the piers.) Billy’s is a solid and successful restaurant, thanks to hard work of its owners. But, there’s not much laid-back island ambiance.
Speaking of Tage, the Inquiring Iguana hears that Ted(?), an owner/chef at Tage(??) walked out of the place last week, taking his recipes with him. No word whether he’s returned. Interesting timing, given that the owner of the Balcony restaurant at Wharfside has just taken over management at four island restaurants, including Asolare and Paradiso. What are the chances he has an opening for a good chef?
Ted is 1/2 owner of Tage. A 50/50 disagreement is hard to resolve.
We were at Tage on Saturday March 11th. The service was so slow! When we asked about the Tarragon Souffle we were told that Ted was out sick and they would not make any of his recipes while he was gone! We thought this was a little odd. A baseball came flying throught from accross the street and almost hit our pregnant daughter and the waiter Drew was making a joke of it! Suffice to say were not too happy and then they overcharged us almost double and we had to call to get it straightned out! We hope Ted lands in a new spot because he is our favorite chef in St John.