Highland Manor, the creative Southern restaurant that reinvigorated the local upscale dining scene last year, has changed hands and the dining room is currently closed. Reached in New York where he is opening another restaurant, former chef and co-owner of the Apopka restaurant said that he and another partner had sold their interests to a third partner, Richard Wilhelm. Wilhelm was not immediately available for comment.

A woman who answered the phone at Highland Manor said the dining room would reopen to the public Valentine's Weekend and would thereafter be open Thursdays through Sundays. The restaurant has been holding private catering events on the property while closed to the public.

Mooney said, "We were going in the right direction, and the city dealt with us really well. But the numbers just weren't there. We couldn't see it turning around in the next 24 months."

Mooney is planning to open a restaurant called Bell, Book and Candle at Greenwich Avenue and W. 10th Street in New York in early April.