After what was likely a rough 24 hours or so for Brian Metzger, he sent out a press release this afternoon announcing that the Abbey will be open tonight:

After an unexpected interruption to our regular service, we are thrilled to announce that we are OPEN today as of 4 p.m. for regular hours. My family, staff and I would like to thank everyone for your support and encouraging comments, texts, calls, posts and emails. We are a local, family-owned and family-friendly business that works very hard each and every day to offer fun, fresh, and seasonal food together with excellent service. But we made an error and are working to correct it. The Abbey is a restaurant I built for my family and for our community; in fact, I named it after my daughter, Abby, and the success of each of our restaurants is of the utmost importance to me. As always, I’m grateful to our incredible team of dedicated staff who have been understanding and are ready to serve up outstanding food with exceptional service. So please, come join us tonight to experience our new and incredible menu – we’re still taking reservations for this weekend, including Mothers Day brunch and dinner. Thank you Tucson, and thank you Southern Arizona!

In "I'd much rather report on places opening than places closing" news, KVOA's website has a photo from the front door of Brian Metzger's northeast side restaurant The Abbey, which says the space has been seized by Ventura-Pacific Development. 

UPDATE: I just talked to Brian Metzger, who referred to the situation as resulting from "an accounting and bookkeeping error" that compounded into the situation today, which was a surprise to him and the staff (hence the posts last night about the new menu), saying "I thought we reached an agreement, but I guess something changed." Metzger said that "it doesn't do anyone any good what happened today" and that he's still working to get the restaurant re-opened as soon as possible, even today, if he can help it. "The future of the Abbey is still bright....[Today's closure is] not good and I'm not happy about it, but hopefully cooler heads will prevail and I intend to make things right."

This is apparently not a particularly new development, because Abbygrace LLC, Metzger's company that ran The Abbey, has been in court with Ventura-Pacific quite a bit lately, starting in December of 2013 and seemingly ending with a final summary judgment in favor of Ventura-Pacific on April 4 after no one showed in court on March 14.

Even stranger, Brian Metzger was actively hyping the restaurant on Facebook last night, championing the restaurant's new menu (which did look quite tasty):


This currently leaves two Tucson restaurants for Metzger, the newish Poppy Kitchen at La Paloma and downtown's Gio Taco.

Yesterday, when we ran a post on the Range about the imminent closing of V Modern Thai downtown, I sort of expected that there might be some residual unpleasantness...the owner seemed to be avoiding us, every time we called the restaurant, we were hung up on, there were some rumors about chaos with the restaurant's management, etc. etc.

However, I wasn't particularly expecting this:

First off, I think any sane person would suspect this, but what incentive would we have to "cause harm" to a local restaurant (or any local business)? As someone who just went through a stretch of employment-related uncertainty, that's not the sort of thing I'd wish on anyone, but also, it's probably in our best interest to be thought of as pro-local business and not getting into some weird quest to take one down.

On a related note, no one from V (other than Mr. Mennes, who spent most of our call threatening me) answered our emails, would talk to us on the phone or seemingly made any effort to get in touch with us whatsoever. So, if there was an inaccuracy, wouldn't some sort of attempt to set the record straight be the way to go?

More importantly, there's no particular reason to believe that V will be open on May 12, partially because it's a little surprising they're open now.

On April 8, Holualoa, the landlord for V's space at 1 E. Congress, Suite 200, filed to have the restaurant evicted from its space for a breach of lease due to V owing $30,854.87 in back rent (plus late charges) as of that date. On April 11, Holualoa presented a written eviction notice to V's owner, but when Holualoa attempted to lock the restaurant's owners out, they refused to leave the premises. On the same day, V's owners tried to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which Holualoa fought in court due to a technicality in a motion on April 16 about needing a lawyer to file. Notably, in that filing, Holualoa's representative writes that:

Landlord sought to enforce its remedies under the Lease by terminating Debtor's right of possession and locking Debtor out of the premises. However, Debtor refused to vacate the premises and a representative or agent of Debtor remains on the premises at all times to prevent the lockout. This continued occupation of the Premises is an additional breach of the Lease.

The next hearing on that front is Monday, May 12 at 3 p.m. where the landlord is going to try again to get V Modern Thai locked out. And, yes, if Holualoa prevails, and odds are they will, it'll be a bummer that a local restaurant couldn't make it work.

It's probably way more complicated than even these court filings indicate and I'm personally not the type to necessarily take the landlord's side in a property dispute, although it's not like Vila Jarrell, the owner, gave us the opportunity to tell her side of the story, even though we tried again today to get in touch with her.

However, what I don't think is fair is the attempt to defame Henry or our publication in an effort to avoid what seems like an inevitable end for V Modern Thai on Congress.

We'll see what happens on Monday, but in the meantime, we stand by our story.

I've been there, losing track of how much I've been using my phone and finding that I'm under 5%, and God forbid that I'm without access to the outside world until I can get back to a power outlet. I think everyone with an energy-draining phone has been there. However, what are you supposed to do?

Apparently, people ask restaurants to charge their phones for them? This is actually a thing? Perhaps this trend hasn't made it to Tucson yet, but Eater wrote about a Facebook post from their Chef of the Year, Brendan McGill, of Hitchcock on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he discusses the perils of trying to please power-hungry customers:

People waving their dead iPhones at bartenders is becoming epidemic. A service you might provide to a friend or regular has become an expectation - busy service staff who already have plenty to worry about are also expected to juggle a full bar's dead phones. Folks seem to be taking less responsibility for their personal devices and their respective batteries.

Should we pull a David Meinert and make some groundbreaking policy, say, a $5 menu charge for using our well-stocked electrical charging station? Or do a Canlis and bring guests a charging pack on a platter, with only one to hand out at a time? Alternately, simply decline to charge people's phones.

The strive to provide excellent service raises the conundrum: if your server is messing around with your phone, they're not attending to your more dining-related needs, nor those in the rest of their section. The classiest joints seem to be aiming to take the tech out of dining: no photos, no cell phone talking in the dining room.

So, what do we think?

Some places are probably more apt to provide such a service than others (casual bar with an extra outlet in a public area?), but is this really what we expect now from sit-down restaurants? Like McGill mentions, shouldn't we take some responsibility for ourselves and our battery needs?

ANOTHER UPDATE: This is only getting weirder, so we added a follow-up post.

UPDATE (by Dan Gibson): A very angry person named Ernie Mennes, who claimed to be the managing partner of V Modern Thai, called to say that the restaurant isn't closing and that he's filing a police report against us for this post. Mennes isn't listed on the Corporation Commission listing for the restaurant, although he posted on V's page in December discussing a "national & international roll-out", but we are making an effort to confirm with someone from the actual restaurant what's going on.

The always evolving downtown scene will apparently lose another restaurant this week. We have learned from a reliable source that V Modern Thai has announced its last business day will be Sunday, May 10. Restaurant owner Vila Jarrell renamed the restaurant —originally Vila Thai Cuisine—and moved from University Boulevard to its current location on 9 East Congress Street in 2011. 

Here's a tweet from KGUN producer Ken Carr's What's Up Tucson feed:

V Modern Thai restaurant in downtown Tucson is closing for good this Sunday. You still have a few days to get in for one last meal.— Whats Up Tucson (@whatsuptucson) May 6, 2014

Somewhat strangely, the restaurant's Facebook page doesn't mention the closing and is still putting up photos of dishes this morning.

Jarrell couldn't be reached for comment, but we'll let you know if and when we hear an update.

Tucson's only Australian restaurant will close its doors tonight.

The names of the new restaurant owners haven't been disclosed yet. But they intend on reopening the space in the fall, according to the former Aussie Cantina owners Glenn Murphy and Sally Shamrell-Murphy.

"The new pub owners are very active in the community," Glenn said. "They are friends of mine, and I have known them for a very long time."

The Australian eatery opened in the fall of 2013, and was recently reviewed by our Chow reviewer Jacqueline Kuder.

"It was an honor to bring the subtlety and flavors of Australia," Sally said. Glenn says the Sixth Avenue and UA construction made it difficult for the business. "There was a big concrete block in front of us. It makes it tougher when you're specifically a destination location," Glenn said.

Here's the official word from the Facebook page:

BIG NEWS! We can finally announce, Aussie Cantina has SOLD! We are happy the new owners are very good mates! They LOVE what we did to this space & they will definitely be open by the UA Football season! But this will be our final day as Aussie Cantina. To our faithful, long-term staff & our devoted regulars... thanks for your company! It was fun sharing Kangaroo, Sausage Rolls, Meat Pies, Lamb Chops, pints of Fosters & Aussie Sunsets with all of you! As they say in Oz ... CHEERS BIG EARS!

Last year, I wrote a post expressing my general confusion regarding the Foodist Awards, a celebration of the (in their words) "most amazing tastes, faces and places in Arizona food and beverage." Well, it's been a year or so, so the Foodists, sponsored by the the Arizona Restaurant Association, are back for a second year and while seemingly the awards should reflect what's happening statewide, there's only one nominee from Tucson from the thirty finalists announced yesterday - the very deserving Drew Record from Playground, one of three possible winners in the Master Mixologist category.

I guess we could sort of count Sam Fox or Pita Jungle's two locations here as well, but otherwise, it's all Phoenix all the time. Obviously, considering our current issue, I feel there's a lot worth celebrating culinary-wise in town, but as long as the process seems to be nomination-based, the much larger fanbase of the Phoenix area joints will likely win out.

I'll set a reminder in my phone now...next October, let's flood the Foodies and get Tucson on this expensive award dinner's radar.

Can't grow a ginger beard? The fine folks at El Guero Canelo Restaurante Mexicano have cleverly crafted a printable beard modeled after the restaurant owner Daniel Contreras. The best part is that there's a Sonoran dog port of entry carefully placed over the mouth hole. All you need is a string to tie it around your mug, and you're officially a member of the El Guero Canelo Beard Bib Club.

Shameless self-promotion alert! I will be a guest on the The World Famous Frank Show tomorrow at approximately 7:30 a.m. I will be discussing the Weekly's 100 Essential Dishes list with the fellas, and hopefully talking Frank out of the drive through bit.

If anyone is awake at that hour, considering the whole city will be celebrating our Sweet 16 Victory (or god forbid, drowning our sorrows of a loss), tune in and catch my ever so charming nervous sta-sta-stutter and constant stream of "umms" and "uhhs".

Go Cats!!!

If I was at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Dallas and heard the presentation on the health benefits of sugars found in tequila, I'd want to know exactly how many shots I could get away with every day and does mezcal work wonders too (because I already know that it does)?

Unfortunately, it sounds like a study that's all about creating another sugar substitute that ends up next to the pink and yellow packets on the tables at my favorite breakfast joint. Ho-hum.

The recent Time magazine health post on tequila sugars mentions a shot, but specifics are needed, but for those who love tequila and have been telling people for years it's the only brew a liver appreciates:

A shot of tequila is not exactly part of a balanced diet, but sugars found within it could offer health benefits to the obese and diabetes sufferers

Sugars found in the plant that makes tequila could lower blood glucose levels for people with type 2 diabetes, and help obese people lose weight, researchers say.

A type of natural sugar called agavins come from the agave plant, which can be used to make tequila. These sugars (which are not the same as in the more commonly known agave syrup) are non-digestible and do not raise blood sugar, according to Mexican researchers.

In new research, the team of scientists fed mice a standard diet, and added agavins to some of their water. They discovered that the mice who consumed agavins ate less overall and had lower blood glucose levels. The effects were stronger than other artificial sweeteners like aspartame and agave syrup. The mice consuming agavins also produced a hormone called GLP-1 that keeps the stomach full longer and produces insulin, which is another reason it could be beneficial for people with diabetes and weight issues.

“This puts agavins in a tremendous position for their consumption by obese and diabetic people,” the study authors write. “We believe agavins have a great potential as a light sweetener.”