Two Fireside Pies and Victor Tango's

Tristan Simon and his growing and shifting (big shifts to come) Consilient Restaurants are back in the maternity ward. This week a Fireside Pies arrives in Grapevine. Next month, Fireside Pies opens in the Urban Bistro location on Inwood Road. Then in February, Simon re-sows his bar oats.

After purchasing the real estate out from under his late private nightclub Sense (2002-2006), Simon has begun construction on Victor Tango's, a dressed-down post-30-something speakeasy with a digital jukebox and a limited selection of "thoughtful bar bites." It opens in February. "It's going to be a very cool, relaxed cocktail parlor," Simon promises. "We're going to put a lot of emphasis on making great drinks...It will be decidedly relaxed and un-scene-driven." Un-scene-driven?

After months of nation scouring, Mistra has made a match. Mistra is the new "eclectic" restaurant in Rockwall's Hilton Bella Harbor resort on the shores of Lake Ray Hubbard. And Mistra has a chef (finally): Steve Weir, ex-executive chef of the Belo Mansion and formerly of the Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio. Weir says his focus will be on food "without boundaries." "I don't want a lot of scary presentations, the kind where people are almost intimidated," he says. "They're spending as much time garnishing the food as they are producing it. That's not what I'm about." But hark, there will be steak. There will be Texas venison. There might be a lobster stew. Says Weir: Mistra will be unlike anything Dallas has ever seen. "In Dallas you see a lot of Southwest fused with Asian," he says. "We're not going to be that specific."...Zen Sushi has arrived in Oak Cliff. Actually it arrived last summer. But still, former Yamaguchi's aspirant Michelle Carpenter has opened what is Oak Cliff's first traditional sushi bar. Except Zen "updates" Japanese fare with Southwestern touches such as cilantro, jalapeño and lime...Scene Restaurant & Lounge did just open on Akard Street downtown in the Mosaic apartments. Brought to you by Michael Bratcher and chef Blaine Staniford (creators of Fuse), Scene calls itself a modern interpretation of European cuisine.