Denny says that he received a call from Billy Fallen (of Billy’s Bakery), whose uncle, Philip Gibrall, owns Aziza’s, soon after Six Burner owner Ry Marchant announced that it would be closing. “He had eaten my food and was interested,” Denny says. “He was confident that I would work out here.” Fallen, whose mother, Rusty, is behind the lunchtime Lebanese fare at Aziza’s, introduced Denny to Gibrall.

Denny says he plans to make a lot of the pasta in-house and use Mediterranean-inspired ingredients in his dishes. He also wants to make several dishes each day using the brick pizza oven at Aziza's, such as steak, whole fish and braised meats and a variety of breads. “The possibilities of that oven are endless.”

He says more Lebanese dishes may show up on the dinner menu as well.

“I might make my own salads that are easy to dish up and serve,” Denny says. Customers can also expect to see foie gras, terrines and other kinds of charcuterie.

The menu is still in transition, but Denny says that the Restaurant Week menu for next week is his handiwork. Among the dishes planned are an appetizer of eggplant flan and pan-fried chicken liver; a main dish of sirloin steak with cashew-spaghetti squash rösti and ginger-licorice-beet sauce; and a dessert of saffron-and-vanilla rice pudding.

In other chef moves, Carly Herring left C’est le Vin to run the kitchen of the The Dining Room at the Berkeley Hotel, where she officially started Wednesday. She says that she had worked as an intern at the Berkeley while attending culinary school at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.

Also, Aaron Hoskins announced today that he’s leaving 2113 Bistro-Lounge, where he’s been executive chef since the beginning of June, later this month because of “creative differences and ownership’s decision to embrace more casual fare.”