No ninth lives for Il Gatto, Duplex

In June 2009, Phil Roberts, the creative force behind Parasole Restaurant Holdings, announced that the company was going to rethink its 25-year-old Figlio. Four months later, Calhoun Square's anchor restaurant had a new look, a stronger emphasis on Italian fare (further refined when Parasole later hired chef Tim McKee to overhaul the menu and installed La Belle Vie vet Jim Christiansen to run the kitchen) and a new name, Il Gatto (Italian for "the cat").

Two years later, the venture is a rare Parasole failure. The company yanked the plug on Saturday.

Roberts isn't pulling any punches. "I was wrong," he said. "I didn't realize the value of the brand equity of Figlio being there for 25 years. I thought people wanted something that would spike, culinarily. Turns out they didn't want guanciale."

The Il Gatto space has been returned to the landlord and is up for lease. Roberts added that Parasole, which still runs Chino Latino and Uptown Cafeteria at Hennepin and Lake, remains bullish on the neighborhood. "I can't blame the area," said Roberts. "Chino Latino is having their best year ever, it's the most viable restaurant in Uptown."

Roberts said that the restaurant's employees have been offered severance packages, and he hoped to find jobs for some of them in other Parasole operations. As for Christiansen, "he's a genius, and we're keeping him in the company, because he's too much of a talent to lose," said Roberts.

Ever the optimist, Roberts is bright-siding the Il Gatto situation. "The good news is that we still own the Figlio name, and it could go on to live somewhere else," he said.

"It's more fun to open them than close them, that's for sure," he added. "But it's like I told our employees: 'It was a ride, it was fun, and it's time to move on.' We have 14 other venues, and we couldn't have Il Gatto dragging us down. We're a healthier company today than we were on Saturday."

In other Uptown restaurant news, Duplex has closed, after a five-year run.

• Rick Nelson

New chef at Barbette

There's a new chef in the kitchen at Barbette. He's Chris Hinrichs, and his résumé includes stints at La Belle Vie, Solera, Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, Barrio, Pizzeria Lola and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. Hinrichs, who has replaced Kevin Kathman, is continuing the restaurant's excellent practice of offering a four- to five-course dinner every Monday evening for $32.

• Rick Nelson

Night Moves' Domino effect

Howler won't be the only young band from the Twin Cities issuing an album on a major indie label next year. Soulful dance-rock trio Night Moves has signed a deal with Domino Recording Co., the London-based label that brought us Franz Ferdinand, the Arctic Monkeys, the Kills and Animal Collective.

Night Moves' members have also played in Food Pyramid, the Battle Royale and Mouthful of Bees. Their MGMT-like psychedelic electronic sound initially earned a buzz around town in May when their full-length debut, "Colored Emotions," became available for free online. A rep from Domino flew in to see the band perform at the Square Lake Festival in August, which led to a showcase in New York for the label's co-founder, Laurence Bell.

Because of this signing, "Colored Emotions" is no longer available, aside from a pair of songs on the trio's Bandcamp page. Domino plans to release the album mostly as-is with only a few tweaks, according to band manager Paul Gillis. A date has not yet been set, but it will at least be by next summer. The band plans to start touring with the label's support around South by Southwest time in mid-March.

• Chris Riemenschneider

Bottoms up! For only $750

What does a $750 shot of Scotch taste like? Brent Kaufer found out on Tuesday night -- and it didn't cost him a penny. The 31-year-old was the first person to go through every pour on the St. Paul Grill's extensive single-malt Scotch list -- 72 in all. It took him 10 months and cost about $2,000 overall. His prize was the Holy Grail of Scotches: a complimentary pour of the ultra-rare and ultra-expensive Macallan 55. (OK, so it cost him a little something to taste this revered whisky.)

As its name suggests, this particular Scotch was aged for 55 years in sherry oak barrels in Speyside, Scotland. The old distillery made only 100 bottles available for distribution in the United States. The St. Paul Grill purchased four of them during the 2008 Republican National Convention. Each bottle was priced at about $12,000.

On Tuesday, Kaufer brought his fiancée along for the monumental end of his Scotch-tasting journey (anyone can join the bar's Scotch club and attempt to reach this goal). She described him as the opposite of a partier who blows his money on overpriced whisky. He's the studious type, but with a competitive streak. Kaufer works full-time as a sales manager at a large telecommunications company and is a full-time grad student. His weekly late-night retreat to the St. Paul Grill was his "oasis from studying," he said.

Part of the Macallan 55's mystique lies in its marketing, something Kaufer fully acknowledged. He wasn't sure he'd be able to taste the difference between a $75 pour or this $750 doozy. "But that sense of history isn't lost on me," he said. "The liquid is older than my parents. It'll take three seconds for each sip, but it took 55 years to produce this particular flavor profile."

And with that, he drank. The Macallan 55 is known for its smokiness and lingering citrus finish. After allowing the initial drops to wash over his tongue, Kaufer struggled to describe the flavors held within the 55-year-old liquid.

His first reaction: "That's good."

• Tom Horgen

Current doubles down on birthday

The Current is expanding its annual birthday party at First Avenue into a two-night affair Jan. 27-28 but retaining the same locals-only format. Night One will feature Low, Tapes 'n Tapes, Dead Man Winter and Night Moves. The second show has Suicide Commandos, Sims, Poliça and Haley Bonar. Tickets ($15) will be available Jan. 5 at noon via www.thecurrent.org for Minnesota Public Radio members only, or in person at the Depot Tavern.

• Chris Riemenschneider

Big new fests coming next summer

Next summer could see more outdoor concerts in the Twin Cities than ever before. The world's top concert promotions company, Live Nation, announced a partnership Dec. 15 with the city of St. Paul to produce a "national destination" festival that could draw 40,000 people to Harriet Island -- think Chicago's Lollapalooza, not St. Paul's defunct Taste of Minnesota, they say.

A two-day, multi-stage event scheduled June 23-24, the as-yet-unnamed fest would add to an already busy summer of outdoor live music. First Avenue got final approval this month to host a two-day festival July 20-21 at Minneapolis' Parade Athletic Fields. That's on top of another festival or two at the remade Somerset (Wis.) Amphitheater. There are also persistent rumors of a Madonna concert at TCF Bank Stadium.

No acts have been named for the new St. Paul festival. Whoever they are, they'll have to be pretty big to draw 40,000. "We want it to be a very cool festival at what is really a very cool concert site," said Jon Reens, director of marketing in Live Nation's Chicago office.

First Avenue's staff chose July 20-21 for its inaugural festival simply because it was one of the few weekends that did not have a competing outdoor music event, said the club's general manager, Nate Kranz.

"It's going to be a busy summer, but I think we already have a built-in audience for our event," Kranz said.

Their main inspiration came from the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, a consistently well -attended event featuring the kinds of indie bands that regularly perform at Minneapolis' landmark nightclub.

• Chris Riemenschneider