High-Profile Dallas Restaurant Suddenly Shutters, Leaving a Colorful, Controversial Legacy

Another day, another high-profile restaurant closing in Dallas.The high-profile Proof + Pantry restaurant in One Arts Plaza unexpectedly shuttered about a week ago, posting a notice on the door saying that owner Michael Martensen chose “to focus his efforts on other projects.”

The cocktail bar and restaurant was a popular spot among Arts District crowds for pre or post-show bites, especially its inventive shareable plates. Proof + Pantry had been struggling with slow business for the past several months, and was in the midst of revamping its menu and beverage program before its abrupt closure, according to Eater.

One reason that could explain why the once-hotspot cooled off is the opening of other new restaurants in the area, including new Pan Asian restaurant Musume and Stephan Pyles’ Flora Street Cafe, a critic favorite.

Speaking of critics, Proof + Pantry’s highly publicized feud with the Dallas Morning News’ respected former food critic Leslie Brenner in 2014 probably didn’t help its case much. When Brenner came to review the now-shuttered restaurant, it refused to accept her payment – thus preventing her from being able to run a review per Dallas Morning News guidelines that did not allow reviewers to accept comped meals. Eventually, Brenner returned in disguise and reviewed Proof + Pantry.

However, the space where Proof + Pantry was located within One Arts Plaza has proved a difficult location for several restaurants. Before Proof + Pantry opened, the venue saw many short-lived restaurants, including John Tesar’s The Commissary, which closed after a one-year run. The plaza still has excellent soba house Tei An, breakfast spot Yolk and Jorge’s Tex-Mex.  

Martensen, a mixologist, has shifted his attention to other projects as of late, including Deep Ellum dive bar Shoal’s Sound & Service, and has spent the past several months working as a consultant at a resort in Mexico.

No word on what will replace Proof + Pantry in the unlucky — and now vacant spot.