Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009

Rowland: Galletto ex-chef opening Surla's

Second Chicken Barn open

The former site of Hazel's Elegant Dining is being reborn as Surla's.

The restaurant is the newest endeavor from John Surla, the former executive chef and general manager of Galletto Ristorante.

The restaurant will open by mid- to late October.

Surla called the casual dining restaurant "California cuisine with a Asian fusion twist" that will serve simple, rustic food from fresh, local in-season ingredients.

Its menu will mix French, Italian, Japanese, Pacific Island and other cuisines.

Hazel's closed its doors abruptly July 31 after 25 years of being a fine dining destination in downtown Modesto. Surla said he is happy to move into the site at 431 12th St. and put his own touches on the restaurant.

He said he would like to expand the cocktail lounge area and remodel the dining room. The seating has been increased to accommodate 70 diners.

Surla left Galletto in May after seven years.

"Now, I'm ready to do what all chef's dream about — open my own place." he said.

Surla's will be open Tuesday to Friday for lunch and dinner and Saturday for dinner only.

The restaurant can be found on Facebook and Twitter and is in the process of developing its own Web site at www.surlasrestaurant.com. For more information, call 550-5555.

Elsewhere around the Business Beat:

The new Forever 21 in Vintage Faire Mall is getting even bigger.

The fast fashion store is expanding to its lower level after opening only the second floor of the former Gottschalks location in August.

The store will open both floors at 10 a.m. Saturday. The first 600 customers will receive gift cards. People can line up starting at 6 a.m. Last time, more than 1,200 guests lined up.

This gives Forever 21 more than 110,000 square feet of retail space. The store's third floor is not open to the public. ...

The owners of the Chicken Barn have added a second outlet in northeast Modesto.

The restaurant has moved into The Lakes Shopping Center, next to Naraghi Lake in the space that used to house La Sierra Taqueria on Oakdale Road.

Husband-and-wife owners Amy and Roy Bradley opened the restaurant Thursday after looking at the location for the past year and a half.

The new Chicken Barn has an identical menu as the McHenry location, but is slightly larger with a seating capacity of 56 inside and 22 employees. It also has a drive-through window.

Chicken Barn, 2601 Oakdale Road, Suite S, is open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, call 527-7311. ...

And finally, China Kitchen opened last month in Riverbank.

Owners Don and Susan Mah ran a successful restaurant by the same name in Idaho for the past 17 years. They moved to the Central Valley in the beginning of the year.

It serves Szechuan and Mandarin favorites for lunch and dinner.

China Kitchen, 2119 Patterson Road, Suite 3, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 869-2695.

Have an item for Business Beat? Contact Marijke Rowland at The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; 578-2284 or mrowland@modbee.com.