What's going on at El Camino Real (that's Owen Kamihira's new project at the former Deuce, across from his Bar Ferdinand in Northern Liberties)?
Major construction. Kamihira had the place gutted.
Chef Jen Zavala, who says they're hoping to launch in mid-August, has been in the area for eight months after a career and life that took her places such as Connecticut, California (where she owned a restaurant) and New Jersey. Zavala worked in the kitchen at Deuce but Kamihira found her at Silk City.
She's working out of Bar Ferdinand to develop her menu, which she says will fit quite nicely into El Camino Real's Mexican-border-bar theme. She's planning "real smokehouse barbecue." Zavala's grandmother is from Yucatán -- specifically the Chichen Itza area.
Speaking of Northern Liberties: Stephen Simons, half of the team from Royal Tavern, Cantina Los Caballitos and the Khyber, finally confirmed that he and Dave Frank are behind a new restaurant on the site of Azure. Simons says three concepts are in consideration for the space.