McKendrick's Steak House has hired Branden Holte as executive chef, bringing in-house butchery and house-made bread to the 31-year-old Dunwoody institution while the surrounding Park Place Shopping Center continues a stretch of tenant turnover under new ownership.

Holte, an Atlanta native with more than 20 years of kitchen leadership experience, trained under Chef Pano Karatassos at Kyma before developing a whole-animal butchery and charcuterie program at Bull & Beggar in Asheville, N.C., according to Rough Draft Atlanta. He most recently held leadership roles at Local Three Kitchen & Bar and Warhorse Atlanta, where he co-opened Seahorse, a 28-seat sushi omakase restaurant, with McKendrick's operating partner Anthony Casiello.

The two have worked together before.

"Chef Holte and I have always made a strong team because we see food, beverage and service the same way," Casiello said. "He has the rare combination of classic steakhouse discipline and genuine creative instinct."

McKendrick's, founded by Claudia and Doug McKendrick in 1995 at 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road, will keep its steakhouse format. Under Holte, the restaurant plans to add in-house butchery, house-made bread, and stronger ties to local farmers and producers. No specific launch date for those menu changes has been announced.

Park Place's revolving door

The chef hire comes as Park Place Shopping Center, now owned by South Carolina-based EDENS, works to fill roughly 27,000 square feet of available space across its 88,000-square-foot footprint. EDENS announced in 2024 a plan to remake the center into "a vibrant modern village," starting with a courtyard renovation.

Several tenants have departed. Alon's Bakery closed in 2023, Sage Wood Fire Tavern followed in 2024, and Cowboy's and Caviar shut down in early 2025. Most recently, Pepper Boxing, a 3,000-square-foot fitness studio that opened in December 2025 in part of the former Alon's space, closed after less than eight months with little public notice.

New arrivals are filling some of those gaps. Le Faucheur Tearoom, a European-inspired tea service founded by Valerie Fatemi, opened April 3, 2026. Simply South Pure Indian Vegetarian, an Irving, Texas-based chain, is slated to open in October 2026 in 7,000 square feet of the former Alon's space at the front of the center. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream lists Park Place as "coming soon" on its website with no confirmed date.

For shoppers and diners along the Ashford-Dunwoody corridor, the next marker to watch is Simply South's October opening and whatever menu changes Holte rolls out at McKendrick's in the months ahead.