Italian Food Is Hot

Harwood adds authentic Italian to menagerie of Uptown Dallas restaurants

Authentic Italian food eatery Dolce Riviera is coming to Dallas' Uptown.

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Uptown Dallas juggernaut Harwood Hospitality Group is debuting a new restaurant that fills an increasingly vital niche: authentic Italian food. Called Dolce Riviera, it's a fine-dining authentic Italian concept designed to re-create the spirit of the world's best-known resort, the Côte d'Azur. It launches with a very quiet opening by limited reservations only, on September 6.

Located at 2950 N. Harwood St., Dolce Rivier is steps away from Harwood's ever-growing menagerie of eateries that include Saint Ann Restaurant and Bar, Mercat Bistro, Marie Gabrielle, Magnolia's Sous Le Pont Coffee Shop, the Groves at Harwood, and Happiest Hour.

The chef is Christian Sbordi, who attended culinary school in his native Italy, then moved to New York, where he worked at Fiamma Osteria, which earned a Michelin star rating.

Recipes will hold true to classic Italian cuisine: There'll be house-made pasta and authentic dishes such as chitarrucci di mare (pasta with seafood) and tonno al sesamo (seared tuna with sesame).

Dolce Riviera takes a step back in time when the Italian and French Rivieras were simple yet elegant. Remember those days? They were before our time, but they sound divine. The decor will draw inspiration from the blue hues of the Mediterranean Sea, with blue-and-white tablecloths and a light airy atmosphere in the dining room, patio, and lounge.

As befits a Harwood International concept, there'll be meticulously manicured European gardens to lend a sense of calmness and serenity, evoking the spirit of a small giardino found in Italy. If it's Harwood, there has to be a patio.

If you're the kind of person who always has to be first to dine at new restaurants, there's already a website for the restaurant as well as a Dolce Riviera page set up on Open Table, where you can make reservations for dinner starting on September 6. A spokesperson at the restaurant said that Dolce Riviera would eventually open for lunch, as well.

openings uptown

Tex Mex News

New restaurant Mero Mero Tex Mex fixes Frisco up with fajitas

There's a new Mexican restaurant with fajitas and house-made tortillas now open in Frisco: Called Mero Mero Tex Mex, it's a fancy Tex-Mex place that debuted in mid-September at 9179 Dallas Pkwy. #170, in a former Rockfish Seafood & Grill.

It joins an area off the Tollway near Main Street that's rife with restaurants, including Tex Mex names such as Blue Goose Cantina, almost directly across the Tollway, as well as Salsa Tex Mex and Anaya's Seafood a few blocks west.

Mero Mero is from Sanjay Regmi, who previously worked for Big-Dill Hospitality (Muchacho Tex-Mex, Casa Brasa, Even Coast, Maroma). He describes Mero Mero as "not your average Tex-Mex spot," with a full bar and a more aspirational atmosphere than the concepts nearby.

Not unlike Muchacho, Mero Mero's menu offers fajitas in four varieties: chicken, shrimp, Wagyu sirloin flap, or mixed. They come with guacamole, grilled onions, bell peppers in all the colors, borracho beans, rice, and tortillas. Prices range from $25 to $36.

Tacos include ribeye, blackened sole, al pastor with pineapple, and still-trendy birria with consommé. A unique taco is their Gobernador, a taco invented in Mexico’s northwest state of Sinaloa in the '80s, filled with shrimp and cheese. There are also enchiladas in choice of chicken, cheese, or seafood with lobster, crab, and shrimp. Tacos and enchiladas are $18 to $24.

Their tortilla chips come with a fun trio of bowls: red salsa, black bean puree, and avocado salsa. They have queso, guacamole with fried chicharrons, and flautitas filled with chorizo mashed potatoes. Plus three seafood items: shrimp aguachile, hamachi, and tuna on tostadas.

Fancier entrees include branzino; lamb barbacoa; cochinita pibil (pork shank in banana leaf); airline chicken with mole oaxaqueño; chile relleno stuffed with beef picadillo; and Wagyu New York strip, their most expensive dish at $79, served with papas bravas.

Cocktails are $15 across the board and comprise an eclectic selection with margaritas, mai tais, and an espresso martini. The bar runs along one wall of the dining room, good for dining solo or a drink, with handsome padded stools and discreetly spaced TVs.

An outdoor patio, fringed by landscaping, has been installed to the right of the entrance with seating for about 65. Inside, the 4,568-square space reveals a makeover with circular booths upholstered in maroon velvet, chandelier-style lighting, and moody Western paintings. A de rigeur neon sign depicts a longhorn with a cowboy hat and this enigmatic piece of advice: "Tex your Mex, not your ex."

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