JoJo in Uptown Is Near Completion; Pictures of Progress

By Lauren Drewes Daniels Fri., Oct. 26 2012 at 7:00 AM

Categories: JoJo

Pizza delivery car

For the past several months we've documented the progress of the new Uptown restaurant Jojo. This is the first concept for chef Laurent Poupart, who is originally from France and worked in New York and California before taking a job as a private chef locally.

Last spring, Poupart decided he was ready to get back into the restaurant business. He hired Plan B Group to help with the design and GreenTag for construction, both which have lots of experience in the aesthetics of local eateries. Poupart spent all of this summer plotting through every detail of his new restaurant, while fighting through several nasty head colds (he hates and blames air conditioning).

There has been a change in the kitchen already. Andrew Bell of NOSH was initially hired to be the executive chef, but he has left and Poupart is bringing in two chefs he worked with previously to help him in the kitchen.

The other day I asked Poupart if he's ready to be done with construction and to start cooking. He looked in the air and put his hands out, like waiting for something to fall from the sky. Then after a pause to contain his emotions, said, "I can't wait to get in the kitchen."

Jojo is now just a few weeks from opening. If all goes well, the first diners will be served the second week of November.

Here's a peek at what the restaurant looked like in June and how it appears now:

The bar area and wine display:

June 27

September 26

October 25

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smith33

Yes, the old JoJo's on Central was awesome ... They made one super-bad Monte Cristo. Haven't had one of those since ... Probably what, 25 years ago?

Twinwillow

1 Like

I miss the old JoJo's on Central between Walnut Hill and Meadow Lane.

Especially, having breakfast after the clubs closed at 2:00am.

cynicaloldbastard

Every time you post about this place I think of the old Jojo's chain, the Denny's competitor that went away about 25 years ago.

And why do we need constant updates about this place? Are we currently lacking for places to eat out at the moment?

danielslauren

@cynicaloldbastard No, see. It's been a whole project where we chronicled the build out. Pictures from begining to end. Interviews and such of pulling together a restaurant in Dallas. And, let's just have a totally cordial chat about the word "constant." There have only been four since June. That's not too bad, right? You're just giving me a hard time again. It's been a while though, so I'm cool with it.

I vaguely remember the chain jojo. I loved me some Denny's when I was a kid though.

cynicaloldbastard

@danielslauren Let me explain what is bugging me.

We have a new restaurant that is being built, Jo Jo. They have received four write-ups since June. Matt McAllister's place receives constant buzz from all media outlets. As well as others.

Meanwhile, up at Preston & LBJ, there are a number of long-time and family owned places that receive zero mention from anyone. These places are all about to close because of the LBJ construction.

Mario & Alberto, gone in September.

Gio's has been on shortened hours and traffic is way down. Scott Reitz won't even eat a reuben sandwich there.

There is a new pizza place and Thai place that have received no mention.

It just irks me that new places get all sorts of free publicity while places that are struggling, due to no fault of their own, go down the tubes because the food blogs/columns don't lend a hand to help them out through a temporary problem. Maybe that is not how the food blogs/columns perceive their mission but I just hate to see long-time, family owned places go down.

cynicaloldbastard

@EatsInDallas LBJ construction will be finished by March of 2016. It is a 60 month project with severe penalties if not completed on schedule. The reference to temporary is that the major congestion at a specific intersection will not last the entire construction time.

EatsInDallas

I don't care how much anyone writes about any of the old joints around LBJ, I avoid that construction like the clap. Write about them all you want, I'm not going. And, a decade is not really a temporary problem.

scott.reitz moderator editor

@cynicaloldbastard @danielslauren

Did someone say Reuben? That's usually the best way to get me into a thread.

I'll eat a Reuben anywhere, including Gio's. I'm constantly open to recommendations, especially from loyal readers I've come to trust. If you see a place you think deserves coverage shoot us an email and tell us about it. It's hard for me to hit up everything that's thrown my way but you'd be surprised how much I'm capable of eating.