Details are finally being fleshed out regarding the dining room inhabiting the top of downtown's Reunion Tower. The new fine-dining destination, part of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's ever-

WILLIAM DeSHAZER/DMN

Five-Sixty is part of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's group of restaurants.

growing stable of restaurants, has been dubbed Five-Sixty, for the height (in feet) of the iconic tower that houses it.

Heading the kitchen is executive chef Sara Johannes, a four-year Puck veteran who comes from his 20.21 restaurant in Minneapolis' Walker Art Center. The menu, developed in concert with executive corporate chef Lee Hefter, is Asian-inspired, but Ms. Johannes says that Five-Sixty will provide a varied culinary experience.

"One of the things that is really great is we have a lot of different levels," she notes. "We have the sushi bar. We have the Japanese robata grill where you can have a couple of small plates and a cocktail and maybe just hang out with your friends. Or if you want to invest some time in an actual meal, you can sit down and really enjoy the full scope of the menu. So there are a lot of choices; it accommodates a lot of different types of customers."

The revolving restaurant, which offers a 360-degree view of Dallas from its perch 50 stories up, will have a soft opening in late January with a grand opening the following month.

Strong's Everyday Tavern (2816 Fairmount St., 214-303-1880, www.strongseverydaytavern.com) is closing at the end of the month, but don't expect the two-story restaurant space to be vacant for long: Nearby steakhouse Nick and Sam's will take over the facility and launch its own casual dining spot in the Uptown digs. Strong's owner Larry Lavine is sanguine about the closing on Tuesday. "We've

got some other things that we're going to do and they made us a great offer," he says. "They really want to do the deal

and it's going to work out better for both of us."

Fans of Strong's fire-roasted pork chops and cowboy meatloaf can still enjoy their favorites at Mr. Lavine's other venture, Red's Patio Grill in Plano (4005 Preston Road, 469-229-0098, www.redspatiogrill.com). "We hope now everybody likes to drive north 25 minutes," he says with a laugh.

The former home of BLT Steak is getting an upscale Mexican makeover. Restaurateur Mark Maguire (Maguire's Regional Cuisine, Rise No. 1) is opening Maximo (5301 Alpha Road) next month in the space across from Galleria Dallas. Amador Mora (previously with Trece and The Mansion on Turtle Creek) has signed on as executive chef; assisting him in the kitchen will be executive sous-chef Joey Villarreal, who comes to Dallas from New York City and a stint in Jean-Georges Vongerichten's sprawling Spice Market.

By the end of the year, 2one4 (3005 Routh St.) should be open in Uptown. The two-story lounge will feature private cabana seating, 15 plasma-screen TVs, bottle service and a deejay every evening, but what night owls might most appreciate is chef Johnny Weisman's menu, available until 2 a.m. Offerings include antipasto, oven-baked subs and build-your-own pizzas.

Downtown Dallas' Fuse (1512 Commerce St., 214-742-3873, www.fusedallas.com) has expanded its new casual-dining menu section, which debuted in October. Items include a teriyaki beef burger, steak-and-eggs fried rice and tuna-crab nachos.

Urbano Paninoteca on McKinney Avenue is one of the latest casualties on the local dining scene. Other recent closings include the Abbey Grill in Frisco, Tio's Tortas on Lemmon Avenue and Olea Mediterranean Bistro in Plano.

Kim Harwell is a Dallas food writer.