About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2024)
£he Stines gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition-February 16-17, 2024 Jim Massara Features Editor I 770-718-34211 life@gainesvilletimes.com Something old, something new Jim Massara The Times Paresh and Dharma Patel, owners of 2 Dog restaurant on Spring Street in Gainesville, reopened the popular eatery on Friday, Feb. 16, with a combination of the classic 2 Dog menu and newly added Indian cuisine. 2 Dog reopens with both classic menu, Indian cuisine 2 Dog Where: 317 Spring St. SE, Gainesville Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mon.-Tues. Scott Rogers The Times Paresh and Dharma Patel purchased 2 Dog from the orginal owners Tim and Tina Roberts, who owned the restaurant for 27 years before retiring. BY JIM MASSARA jimmassara@gainesvilletimes.com Nearly two months after its origi nal owners retired, 2 Dog restaurant is reopened - with new owners, a mostly new staff, much of the same menu ... and some curry on the side. 2 Dog, now owned by longtime restaurateurs Paresh and Dharma Patel, open for lunch at 11 a.m. Fri day, Feb. 16. Diners on Friday can expect to find a menu similar to the one created by Tim and Tina Rob erts, who owned 2 Dog for 27 years before selling it to the Patels. But on Saturday and Sunday? The Patels plan to offer Indian cuisine alongside the usual 2 Dog staples. “I feel great about it,” Dharma Patel told The Times. ‘‘We are going to introduce our food, our heritage to this community. The only thing missing in Gainesville is an Indian restaurant, so I'm happy about it.” The Patels have plenty of restau rant experience - almost 13 years running Sweet Magnolia's Cafe & Bakery, along with the recent pur chase of Collegiate Grill - but have never operated an Indian restaurant before. For 2 Dog's Indian menu, Patel said she will draw on a life time of cooking Indian food for family and friends. 2 Dog's ‘‘From the East” menu includes many Indian-restaurant standards. Among the starters are vegetable and chicken samosas, both of which are a kind of fried pastry. Chicken tikka, an oven- cooked boneless chicken marinated in tandoori sauce, is also on the menu, as is maru bhajia, an East African potato dish served with homemade chutney. The Patels will also offer thali platters, each with rice, naan, samosa and raita. Among the plat ter choices are chole masala, a spiced chickpea curry; paneer tikka masala, fresh cube cheese cooked in a tomato puree; chicken tikka masala, boneless chicken cooked in puree; and butter chicken, a shredded-chicken dish cooked in a special sauce with tomatoes and a creamy fenugreek sauce. Sides include saffron rice, two types of naan and a side salad. Des sert choices are mango lassi, a cold mango shake; gulab jamun, spongy milk-based balls soaked in syrup; kheer, a rice pudding garnished with pistachio, almond and cardamom; and ras-malai, soft cheese patties in sweet milk with pistachios. And if you're not into Indian food, the old 2 Dog menu is still there ... mostly. The quesadillas, Caesar salad and rosa will remain the same, while the Greek salad will be ‘‘changed up a little bit,” said chef Josh Furey, who had worked at 2 Dog under the See 2 Dog 13B Austin Steele The Times Juan Luna took over the restaurant, then named Cafe Julius, on Feb. 7, 1997. This year marks Luna’s 27th anniversary in business. Owner of Luna’s Restaurant sells eatery after 27 years in business BY JIM MASSARA jimmassara@gainesvilletimes.com Editor’s note: This published in a previous E-Paper edi tion and is being provided here for print-only readers. Luna's Restaurant in downtown Gainesville has a new owner. Darryl Bucher of Suwanee is buying the popular fine- dining eatery from restaurant namesake Juan Luna. According to both Bucher and Luna, the sale was to close Tuesday, Feb. 13. ‘‘I'm planning to get out of the business ... today,” Luna said with a smile. ‘‘I think it's time to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor.” Luna took over the restaurant, then named Cafe Julius, on Feb. 7,1997. This year marks Luna's 27th anniversary in business. While the owner may change, the restaurant's name, menu and staff won't. “If it's not broke, don't fix it,” Bucher said. Luna, now 67, told The Times he had been considering retirement ever since the pandemic. He listed the restaurant with a broker 10 days ago. Bucher, a former Atlanta-area real-estate consultant, said he came out of retirement to buy the restaurant “as an opportunity to build something with my family.” Bucher's sons, Jacob and Alec, will handle much of the restaurant's day-to-day operations. “You don't get an opportunity to buy an icon like this very often,” Bucher said. “Were blessed to have an opportunity to take it over.” A native of Pennsylvania who has lived in Gwinnett County since 1986, Bucher told The Times that he recently bought a lot near Lake Lanier and plans to build there. Until then, he hopes to immerse himself in Gainesville culture and community. Meanwhile, Luna will remain involved with the restaurant for an unspecified length of time to make sure its new owners are “on the right track. “It’s just the way it is,” Luna said. “I have a lot of love for Luna's.” “We're humble,” Bucher told The Times. “We're here to learn and work with everybody that's here. It's a tremendous team... I look forward to Gainesville's continued support.” Jim Massara The Times Darryl Bucher, left, new owner of Luna’s Restaurant, with longtime owner and restaurant namesake Juan Luna. Bucher and Luna told The Times they planned to close the deal to sell the res taurant on Feb. 13. How schools used to accommodate farm schedules JOHNNY VARDEMAN johnnyvardeman@gmail.com In the early 1900s, each Hall County school had a board of trustees that oversaw its operation. They were required to look after building maintenance, be sure teachers were follow ing the rules, inspect and sign teachers' reports and visit their schools at least once a month. Because so much of Hall County was in farms in those days, school schedules were set to accommodate farmers and their children, who often had chores on the farm. For instance, in the 1901 school year, classes actually would start on New Year's Day and continue for 60 days. Stu dents would be out of school then until what was called the second term, which would begin in July and last for 40 days. That apparently was so chil dren could be out during plant ing time from March till June, then harvesting from July till mid-September. Schools would start at 8:15 a.m. in winter and run until 4 p.m. Times in the summer were 7:20 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two recesses were required of 15 minutes each, and there was an hour for lunch. There were at that time what were called long-term schools that had 100-day terms. While parents were urged to send children to schools most con venient to them, they could opt for schools with the 100- day terms. However, children couldn't change from one school to another. What is now called the superintendent of schools was at that time the commissioner. He and at least two school trustees would inspect the teachers' records. Textbooks would be prescribed by the commissioner and approved by the trustees. The commissioner made it clear what was expected of teachers: “The position which you occupy is attended with pecu liar and grave responsibilities, as into your hands is commit ted the training, and to a large extent, the destinies of our children. If you perform your duties well and faithfully, any salary which you may receive is insignificant compared to the services rendered. If, on the other hand, you fail to do your duty, and by precept or exam ple instill into the minds of the children entrusted to your care, ideas other than those of right living, your salary however small is too great.” Accredited finally Gainesville High School operated for years without accreditation despite intensive effort. It finally came from the Southern Association of Schools in 1922, just a few months after the school had moved into its new building on West Washington Street. The school received an A-l accredi tation. Superintendent at the time was J.A. Mershon. That same year, students revived a school newspaper. “The Mered” had been pub lished by GHS students for several years but was discon tinued. The school's newspa per name later was changed to “The Trumpeter,” playing off the Red Elephant mascot theme. See Vardeman 14B
