Chef Pitts leaves the Anchor — and Wichita

Chef Doug PittsChef Doug Pitts has moved on from The Anchor — and soon, he’ll be moving on from Wichita.

Pitts, who took over the kitchen at the popular downtown bar in May, left several weeks ago when he and owner Schane Gross realized they had different visions for the menu, Gross said.

Since then, Pitts has been filling in at sushi restaurant Kanai, which recently lost chef Andrew Terronez to a job heading the kitchen at the Kansas Masonic Home. But Pitts won’t be there long. In a few weeks, he is returning to to New York City, where he plans to work as a guest chef in restaurants there, Gross said.

The Anchor, meanwhile, just re-opened on Monday after a week-long vacation. Gross doesn’t have a head chef anymore, she said, but she and her kitchen staff plan to start in February offering a rotating list of weekly special sandwiches, soups, etc. The core menu, which includes favorites such as The Haystack, will remain. She also hopes to offer monthly beer tastings in 2012, and although she hasn’t abandoned her remodel plans, they’re on hold while she shops for the right loan.

This story was originally published January 11, 2012 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Chef Pitts leaves the Anchor — and Wichita."