Kitchen Swap

Lucia chef says ciao and heads to neighboring restaurant Driftwood

Justin Holt, a cook at critically lauded Lucia restaurant in Bishop Arts, is leaving to work at another restaurant right up the street: Driftwood. If his name sounds familiar, that's because Holt is the chef who was doing a pop-up ramen shop in Bishop Arts on weekend nights.

"I've been at Lucia around two years," Holt says. "I learned a whole bunch and had a great journey. But I'd like to get into a different cuisine. I've never worked in a strictly fish restaurant."

He says that the encouragement of Lucia chef-owner David Uygur was key to his pursuit of the ramen pop-up idea.

"He pushed me to do something I felt passionate about," Holt says. "He said he thought I made good ramen and that I ought to try a pop-up. We were just having it for the restaurant family meal and I was making it at home for buddies. It went over really well."

The pop-up is how he met Omar Flores, chef at Driftwood, with whom he'll be working. "I knew about him through the chef community," he says. "My girlfriend is a chef at FT33. And then Omar came to one of my ramen nights."

He leaves Lucia on May 18 and starts at Driftwood on the 21st. With the transition to his new job, Holt said he's putting a temporary hold on the ramen operation. "It's a tremendous volume of work to make it," he says. "It's not my intent to stop it. I just need to take a bit of time to settle in to my new job before setting up my next ramen gig."

Lucia owner Jennifer Uygur says they've already started interviewing candidates (email info@luciadallas.com). "We'd like someone who's a good fit and wants to work somewhere small and work with whole pig butchery," she says.

"We haven't had a lot of change or turnover. People like to stay. But we're excited that one of our guys has an opportunity to go do something cool."

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Deep Ellum News

Ex-Deep Ellum speakeasy paves way for spiffy new Dallas restaurant-bar

Scarlet Lounge & Kitchen

In sad news, a Dallas speakeasy has closed. In happy news, there's a swanky new restaurant and bar in its place: Called Scarlet Lounge & Kitchen, it recently opened at 2618 Elm St., in the Deep Ellum space that was home for more than a decade to Truth & Alibi, which closed in August after 11 years.

Scarlet Lounge & Kitchen is from Victor García, who is very familiar with the location: He built a career at Truth & Alibi, starting as a dishwasher 10 years ago, and climbing the ranks to become bartender at the pioneering bar that helped usher in Dallas' great speakeasy era of 2021-2022.

Garcia had already been looking for a location to open his own restaurant and lounge, when he learned that Truth & Alibi owners Chris and Mark Beardon were going to close their Deep Ellum concept.

“I took care of the place as if it were mine," Garcia says. "It is home to me, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to bring my dream to life. Every time I come here, it reminds me of the first day I stepped into this place. It changed my life."

A native of Michoacán, Mexico, who moved to Dallas when he nine years old, Garcia also previously worked at the now-closed Avenu Lounge.

At Scarlet Lounge & Kitchen, he's kept some of the key elements of the former space, such as the layout and chandeliers. But he's also added brighter elements that help transition the space from sophisticated and welcoming restaurant into a lounge and nightclub after 10 pm, with thematic events, DJs on weekends, burlesque on Wednesdays, and Sunday socials.

For food, he partnered with chef Mike Church to build a menu that provides a highly creative fusion of Spanish and American cuisine with Latin elements. There are "diablo" deviled eggs, Spanish risotto, ceviche, and an elote "dip" with all the good parts of the Mexican corn dish fashioned into a dip.

Entrees include flank steak with chimichurri sauce and Latin-braised chicken with olives, peppers, onions, and tomatoes with penne pasta. There are tapas-style dishes such as papas fritas, and intriguing vegetarian items such as a portobello steak, or beet tostadas layered with goat cheese, apple, and pistachio. Dessert includes a clever tres leches carrot cake.

Prices are reasonable, ranging from $8-$16 for appetizers and $18-$24 for entrees.

Scarlet Garden cocktail Spanish Garden cocktail served in a "bird cage".Scarlet Lounge

The creativity also shows in the cocktails, where bartender Hector Santana (Tipsy Alchemist, Snowbird) serves innovative drinks with theatrical Instagram-friendly presentations. These include a tequila Reposado and pineapple Piña para la Niña cocktail and a drink called Spanish Garden, containing rum, passion fruit, and strawberry, served with frozen fruits in a lighted bird cage, with nitrogen that creates a wall of smoke.

They've also kept some Truth & Alibi favorites such as the 12am Alibi, Fushia Fusion, Lies and Secrets and Black Bourbon Smash.

They've kept the late-night hours on weekends, open Friday-Sunday from 5 pm to 2 am, and Tuesday-Thursday 5 pm-10 pm. They host a generous happy hour from 5-7 pm with 20% off food and drink specials, and unlike most places in the area, they offer complimentary valet during restaurant hours.

Beyond the creative food, drink, and atmosphere, Garcia is laser-focused on customer service — on good hospitality.

"People walk by and come check us out," Garcia says. "Once there are here, we do our best as an entire team to offer the best service. We are very happy that customers that try us all leave with a positive experience. That is our main focus."

deep-ellum trends openings