Roofer magnate Ed Dunlap is expanding his restaurant holdings to include Le Pommier on the South Side and Palate Bistro in the Cultural District.

The Culinary Concepts of Pittsburgh restaurant group already includes LeMont on Mount Washington, Cafe Euro in Downtown and the Amigos restaurants in Peters and Mt. Lebanon.

Like many of the other restaurants that have caught Mr. Dunlap's eye, Le Pommier has a long history. Retired chef Christine Dauber enjoyed more than two decades of business before selling the restaurant to three of her employees in 2004 -- executive chef Mark Collins and managers Jeremy Carlisle and Richard Bjork.

According to Mr. Bjork, they had been seeking a buyer for a few months when a real estate broker connected them with the Culinary Concepts group. They bought the restored 1863 storefront for $375,000.

"It's a beautiful, historic building on the South Side," said Michael Schumacher, senior vice president of operations for Culinary Concepts. "That was kind of a no-brainer."

While the restaurant group is still negotiating purchase of the restaurant, both parties emphasized that Le Pommier would stay mostly the same. Mr. Schumacher said they plan to close for a week in late summer to refurbish and complete some minor renovations, but they plan to keep Mr. Collins, Mr. Carlisle and Mr. Bjork in their current positions.

Mr. Dunlap and Mr. Schumacher have different plans for the much younger Palate Bistro, which John Valentine opened in 2007. "We've been trying for about three years to find something in the Cultural District," said Mr. Schumacher, who is currently in the process of finalizing the new lease of the building from Stabile and Associates.

He was hesitant to elaborate, since it's still early in the planning process, but did confirm substantial changes: "The name Palate, no, is not going to be part of the scenario. Maybe bits and pieces of the menu, some of the design elements we may retain, but it's kind of in the early stages of conceptualization at this point."

As soon as they've finalized the lease, Mr. Schumacher said, they plan to fast-track renovations, which include moving the third-floor bar to the first floor and expanding the restaurant into the adjacent empty space, previously occupied by a check-cashing business whose lease was not renewed.

Mr. Valentine notified his staff of the likely sale in July and closed Palate Bistro after dinner service on July 17.

If all goes well, Mr. Schumacher expects the new Culinary Concept project to open in October.

Mr. Dunlap, the president and CEO of Centimark Corp., headquartered in Cecil, has had mixed success with his other restaurant purchases. LeMont, which he purchased in 1999, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010, but two other past institutions didn't fare as well.

The Colony in Scott was closed and then re-opened as Cafe Euro (the same concept as the Downtown spot), and today it functions as a private party space.

Mr. Dunlap purchased Tambellini's on Saw Mill Run Boulevard in 2006 and opened under the same name. In 2007 the restaurant re-opened as Amici's, but by 2008 it, too, is used only for private functions.