Chef Timothy Dean is about to open a new restaurant in the same Eastern Avenue space that first housed Timothy Dean Bistro and then TD Lounge.
Prime Steakhouse opens Friday with a menu intended to appeal to recession-weary fine diners. Every entree will be priced $30 or below, and will come with one side. The wine list will feature 30 bottles under $30.
"In this economy, change is necessary," Dean says in a news release. "As a result, I have chosen to remove myself as executive Chef and Owner in order to become a consultant for Prime Steakhouse."
If that sound like a rather dour way to herald the opening of a new restaurant, at least the headline on the release was exuberant: "Mastermind and Master Chef Timothy Dean Reinvents Steakhouse Experience in Baltimore."
I couldn't reach Dean by phone just now, but the the restaurant's office manager, Tanay Medley, offered to fill in a few blanks.
First and foremost, Dean will not be in the kitchen, she said. Chef Abdella Drake of TD Lounge will do the cooking.
She could not discuss the restaurant's ownership, except to say that Dean was not part of it.
"In all honesty, it's a group of investors," she said. "I don't personally don't know. They remain blank faces so far."
(Gene Sweeney Jr./Baltimore Sun Photo)