Uptown Kitchen now at Heritage Square

With her husband tending to last-minute details Wednesday shortly after their restaurant reopening, Jenny Lutz not only offered a tour of the new Uptown Kitchen location, but she also described the work that has gone into their venues.

“It has been nonstop for three years,” Lutz says about Jonathan opening two restaurant concepts in three years. And she hopes he will take a short respite before planning another venue. “I really want him to be able to take a deep exhale now and enjoy what he has created.”

Lutz opened Uptown Kitchen in the summer of 2007 at what was then a new Mishawaka shopping development called Toscana Park. Last fall he opened The Mark Dine & Tap in South Bend, at Eddy Street Commons near Notre Dame.

At the same time Lutz planned The Mark, he decided to relocate Uptown to nearby Heritage Square, and make some improvements to his first local venture.

The new location is larger. It now features a bar with a three-way license and small meeting room, and the noise should no longer be an issue. Jenny Lutz points out the sound-absorbing panels that are hung at varied ceiling heights. A new menu also features some new permanent items, including a roasted cauliflower sandwich and a quinoa burger, which previously had appeared as daily specials.

But the restaurant still features vibrant colors, unique artwork and decor, and green banquette seating. In other words, if you liked the old Uptown you should enjoy the new one even more.

The trademark egg in the logo, however, has been replaced with a fork, knife and spoon. The change actually took place earlier. “While we still like eggs and serve eggs, we ditched it to speak more to our breakfast, lunch and dinner options,” says Lutz.

Uptown Kitchen customers like the new locale at 7225 Heritage Square Drive across from Gino’s East.

“We’re being much more conscious about our nutrition, which makes it hard to go out to eat,” says Michelle Lacay of Mishawaka, who dined with friends at Uptown Wednesday morning after a workout. “I don’t think it’s as loud here, and I like the extra space. And we still get our corner booth.”

Super Sounds plans Saturday closing

Roger Method is shuttering his Elkhart music store Saturday after more than a quarter century in business.

Super Sounds is slated to close Saturday at 26084 County Road 6 in Elkhart, at Professional Plaza.

“I tried to do everything I could to get the store over the hump, but it’s like beating your head against the wall to get people to buy nonessentials,” Method says.

He plans to start loading up his inventory this weekend with the hopes of finding a business partner and re-emerging in another location or with an Internet business. Customers can keep up with his plans on his website at supersoundsinc.com.

Method opened his store at Elkhart’s Concord Mall in 1983, between the release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Def Leppard’s “Pyromania.” He has been located at three plazas since leaving the mall in 2002, and has served as a Ticketmaster outlet.

“I’ll miss my customers and the excitement on their faces when they get good (concert) tickets because they’ve come out to my old-school outlet,” he says.

“I believe there will be a (CD) renaissance and I wanted to hang around for it. But in this economy you get your music however you can,” he says, “and it’s a pretty unscrupulous world on the Internet.”

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Blockbuster update

The last South Bend Blockbuster Video location is slated to close next month.

A storewide sale is now under way at the video store at 54600 Indiana 23, on the corner of Ironwood Drive, and the store is set to close Feb. 13, employees state.

The former Blockbuster Video building in Granger on Indiana 23 near Martin’s, is currently being renovated for The Dental Center.

Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy late last year, announcing it will shutter nearly 1,000 store locations.

Bruno’s plans to open; Cambodian to relocate

Bruno’s Pizza, which has been renovating the former Quizno’s sandwich shop at 131 S. Michigan St., South Bend, since last fall is preparing to open its doors in the next few weeks.

The soft opening date has not been announced, but owners are planning a Valentine’s Day grand opening, says Tamara Nicholl-Smith, DTSB director of downtown business recruitment.

In other downtown restaurant news, fans of Cambodian Thai can look forward to a larger dining room after the locally owned restaurant moves across the building to the former Aunt Karen’s.

No timeline has been given for the relocation at the City Center building in the 200 block of South Michigan Street, Nicholl-Smith says.

Have you heard?

Bakin’ & Eggs is coming in March to the former Uptown Kitchen building at Toscana Park. ... The fifth annual ice carving contest will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Heritage Square, Mishawaka. Carvers will demonstrate techniques between 10 and noon, and create sculptures from 1 to 4 near the plaza fountain. ... Mad Anthony’s Old State Alehouse, 526 S. Main St., downtown Elkhart, closed its doors on Wednesday, company officials in Fort Wayne confirm.

Heidi Prescott’s column runs on Fridays and Sundays. When she’s not shopping, contact her at hprescott@sbtinfo.com or (574) 235-6070. You can also check out her blog at www.southbendtribune.com and Facebook.com/thebasket.