Opening News
Dallas restaurateur conjures up exciting Mediterranean market-cafe for Plano
There's an exciting new combination restaurant-market coming to Plano's Legacy West: Called Darna Euro-Mediterranean Market, it's an ambitious Marrakesh-inspired bar, restaurant, and market with all sorts of foodstuffs set to open in the fall.
Darna means "our house" in Arabic. The concept will be a celebration of the shops, cafés, street vendors, and bazaars that are such a major attraction in the Mediterranean: Spanish meat boards, French pastries, Italian and Turkish flatbreads, Greek souvlaki, Moroccan tagines, and Lebanese mezze.
The 6,200-square-foot market and eatery will be located at 7700 Windrose Ave., #G-170, AKA the former Barnes & Noble space.
Visitors can shop among the food and drink offerings in Darna's Market or else sit down for a meal at the full-service Café. Products will include olive oils, Moroccan spices, dried fruit, nuts, and European cheeses and meats.
Darna will also feature a Turkish coffee bar and a full-service alcohol bar offering everything from craft cocktails to select beer and wine.
A deli will offer ready-to-eat offerings, as well as quick-service mezza, salad and sandwich stations.
Darna will also have that post-pandemic essential: an expansive patio.
Darna is from Yaser Khalaf, founder of Yela Concepts whom Yela president CEO Pat Garza calls "a revolutionary force in the restaurant industry for more than a quarter-century." Khalaf is known for restaurants such as Baboush in Uptown Dallas and Shawarma Bar in Fort Worth.
"To Yaser, food is more than what you taste; it’s an immersive experience defined by texture, aroma and visual art," Garza says. "And that’s exactly what guests can expect at Darna. Inspired by Yaser's heritage and years of research, Darna is a one-of-kind concept that will deliver a fun, authentic, approachable experience unlike any other in North Texas."
They'll have the atmosphere down, as well, which is true to form for Khalaf, whose restaurants have always been stylish and swanky. Darna will feature an authentic ambiance inspired by timeless Middle Eastern elements with nuances of modern chic, North African and coastal Mediterranean interiors.
