Gregg will be executive chef of Escape, located at 345 Bloomfield Avenue (a few doors west of the highly-rated Fascino) in the small storefront most recently occupied by True North Osteria.
Mandakas, chef/owner of Innova Cuisine—an upscale catering, food service and consulting company based in Lafayette—will be Escape’s chef de cuisine.
Asked to describe the new restaurant’s menu, Gregg said, "Think McCrady’s in Charleston [South Carolina]—without the price tag.”
McGrady’s chef, Sean Brock, won the 2010 James Beard Award as Best Chef Southeast. The restaurant’s website says it hopes to epitomize "the amalgam that is new Southern fine dining, concomitantly serving as a canvas for postmodern gastronomy. The menu…centers around inventive cuisine fresh from the farm and local purveyors."
Gregg said he anticipates a May opening for Escape.