Talk of the Town - Blown Fuse July 29 2000

Fusebox shuts down amid rumors

Last week’s announcement that Fusebox, the popular Buckhead restaurant, had shut its doors caught many people off guard. It wasn’t even a year ago that Fusebox was selected by Esquire as one of America’s top eateries. But sources familiar with Fusebox’s inner-workings say the move wasn’t a surprise. “It had been rumored for a while,” says one former employee. “The ownership of the restaurant had been sort of falling apart, so we knew, in the back of our minds, that maybe something was up.”

While the ownership problems remain private for the most part, I’ve heard about some wild scenes involving the owners, which, at times, included former LaFace Records honcho L.A. Reid, and restaurateurs Michael Krohngold and Marc Cooperman. In a particularly juicy incident, one departed owner is said to have recently returned to Fusebox, snatched the liquor license from behind the bar, then stormed out of the restaurant. Yet another former owner has reportedly been trying for months (unsuccessfully) to serve a different former owner with a lawsuit. (The servee, no dummy he, refuses to accept anything handed to him while he’s walking in public.)

Through all the tumult, chef Troy Thompson’s food — a brilliant fusion of Asian and American cuisine — had been Fusebox’s calling card. When combined with the beautiful people who regularly showed at the restaurant, you had one of the most exciting places to eat in Atlanta — the place to see and be seen.

So, when it was a announced a few weeks back that new Fusebox chef Marc Plesis was taking over, and the food was being “reclassified” as “Modern American,” maybe we should have known something strange was afoot. Combine this with the loss of Menelik, the restaurant’s hip doorman who recently announced his defection to become director of promotions at Karma, and, in retrospect, the end appeared to be looming.

Tower of power: Late one night a little more than a year ago, I stopped by Tower Records to rummage the magazine rack. I ran into Hawks’ forward Alan Henderson, who was trying to hide his 6-foot-9 frame behind a bookshelf while he read a magazine with hints and tricks for Sony Playstation. He motioned me over, so I crouched down next to him. We were hiding from Henderson’s friend, attorney Malcolm Thompson, so that Henderson could study some codes to help him beat Thompson in John Madden Football.

A few minutes later, Henderson stood up and introduced me to Thompson. The pair relayed their plans to one day open their own record label. That dream came to fruition last week when Henderson introduced Hendu Entertainment. The label’s first release, by local rapper Pastor Troy, is scheduled to drop July 25. Maybe you’ll even find it at Tower.

Self discovery: Chris Crain, editor and co-publisher of Southern Voice, is featured in an extensive article in the August issue of Esquire. The story details Crain’s journey from a fundamentalist Southern background to Harvard Law School to leaving the closet to the gay Atlanta weekly. It also notes his plan to one day own a chain of quality gay papers.

This and that: Local photographer C. Noel says she’s fine after recently being in accidents two days in a row and seeing both the cars she was in totaled. ... Former AJC editor Bill Kovach’s two-year run as ombudsman for fussy journalism mag Brill’s Content has ended. He’ll be replaced by former NBC News president Michael Gartner. ... Separated at birth: John Rocker and Scooby Doo. ... I’m out.

What’s up, Atlanta? Hit me up at 404-688-5623, fax 404-420-1402, or e-mail lang@creativeloafing.com.