When Kevin Cronin ended a nearly 20-year stretch as executive chef at Dusty’s Wine Bar in 2015, he didn’t intend to come back.
Over the next decade, while Cronin opened a food truck, worked as executive chef at Morton’s Fine Catering and cooked up other ventures, Dusty’s went through changes of its own. It rotated through several menu concepts, pricing models and target markets. Cronin said there were six different chefs in that time. In July, the wine bar closed temporarily.
“There was no consistency; there were pricing issues, guys that didn’t really have their finger on the pulse of this market,” Cronin said. “This market doesn’t want super high-end, expensive things. They want nice, comfort-style foods done well, with good ingredients, at a price people can afford.”…