Downtown Bar News

Anticipated downtown Dallas watering hole The Mitchell spills opening date

With all the scrutiny on keeping the history in our downtown core intact, it's one for the good guys with The Mitchell, the bar opening this week in the old Chesterfield (and, briefly, Prohibition) space in downtown Dallas.

Mostly a bar, but partly a restaurant, The Mitchell opens on February 13. It comes from bar veterans Chris Beardon and Adam Salazar, who've been involved in projects such as PM Lounge and Truth & Alibi. But this is their first all-in project together, as part of their Buffalo and Hare Restaurant Development Group, which also includes the concept they're opening in the old Lemongrass space in Deep Ellum, with former Oak chef Brian Zenner.

The Mitchell came with what Salazar calls a "terrific kitchen," where chef Rudy Mendoza (formerly of Belly & Trumpet) will oversee a menu of about a dozen items geared toward drinking but still with some elegant foodie touches. They include fried duck roulettes with applesauce; oysters; and caviar at four price levels, starting with an American Tennessee spoonbill at $45 an ounce.

"We did caviar when I was at Nikita, and it was a hit," Salazar says. "And that's even with all of the options priced at $250. This gives people who've wanted to try it a chance."

But their main emphasis is on having a lively, bustling bar. "What they're doing at Nick & Sam's is pretty darn close, but it's still geared toward being a restaurant, not a volume bar. If you go to San Francisco or Chicago or even Denver for that matter, you walk down the street and hit a busy bar."

Bar staffers include Patrick Gorman, formerly of Dee Lincoln's Restaurant & Bubble Bar, and Marco Boraz, with whom Salazar worked while at the Joule. They'll do a limited menu of cocktails and "a lot of gin." They're spotlighting champagne, with at least 30 bottles and four by the glass, featuring Laurent Perrier as the house champagne for $16 a glass, plus two sparkling roses, including one by Scharffenberger.

Doing something cool in downtown was a top priority. Salazar says they lucked out with the space following a renovation executed by former owners Eddie "Lucky" Campbell and Ed Bailey.

"Lucky did such a great job with it," Salazar says. "We did do updates on the furniture, couches and wallpaper. We found a very cool blue alligator print for the couches and that established our direction. I love the burgundies that Lucky did, but I wanted to make sure when you walked in that you knew it was a different place."

At one point, it was a barbecue joint, and it also used to be a Greek restaurant called Zodiac Greek Grill. "Eddie put the kitchen in, he broke it down to the brick," Salazar says. "He was our first call, when the deal was done."

The Mitchell opens February 13 in downtown Dallas.

The Mitchell Facebook

The Mitchell opens February 13 in downtown Dallas.

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Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

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Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

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