Kevin O'Connor, a talented former chef at Blackbird and who did pop up dinners under the Treehouse name, will not open at the space formerly occupied by Art Ellis art supplies on J Street.

The Sac Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson reported this back in February:

O’Connor and his business partners have purchased a building on a bustling midtown block on J Street and will begin work readying the transformation from Art Ellis art supplies to a new restaurant...

O’Connor, 24, does not have an projected opening date but said he hopes for late summer or early fall. The building will include a loft space O’Connor plans to call home.

Read the original story in the Sac Bee.

First, let me be clear. I'm not saying that Robertson was wrong when the piece first went up, but the information appears to no longer be correct.

On a visit to nearby Kru in July, I peeked inside the space and saw what looked like unfinished tables from New Helvetia Hardwoods, which reclaims fallen urban trees and makes them into "practical art."

I stopped by again during Second Saturday in August and saw this sign.

I asked the staff what happened to the restaurant, and was told that the project fell through.

An e-mail asking O'Connor for comment via Treehouse was not returned.

So as best I can tell, that space remains an art gallery.

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