Poke News

New poke restaurant hits Dallas-Fort Worth with rock star power

A new poke player is in town.

Photo courtesy of Lemonshark

A new poke concept is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth with some rock star credentials. Called LemonShark Poké, it's a California-based chain that was founded in 2016 by Tobi Miller, founding guitarist of hit rock band The Wallflowers, and ex-racecar driver Richard Gottlieb.

Currently boasting a few locations in Southern California and Florida, Lemonshark is poised for expansion, with a wave of openings set for Texas. The first location will open in May in Las Colinas in a former Subway shop at 901 W. Royal Ln.

That'll be followed later in 2018 by a location at the CityLine mixed-use complex in Richardson, with at least three more restaurants slated for DFW.

LemonShark has your prototypical signature bowls featuring ahi tuna, salmon, albacore, a spicy salmon and tuna combo, and tofu. It also has build-your own bowls with many options of rice — sushi, brown, forbidden, bamboo — and two dozen toppings such as pineapple, mango, corn, carrots, water chestnuts, and watermelon radish.

Appetizers include tempura shrimp, egg rolls, bottomless miso soup, seaweed salad, cucumber salad, and Spam musubi.

They also do the poke-rito, the trendy concoction which wraps all of the ingredients of poke inside a large sheet of seaweed, burrito-style.

Lemonshark is named for an actual shark which is known to be a picky eater, says Miller, who is the company's president and CEO; Gottlieb is chairman of the board.

"The theme is meant to underline the idea that we're a premium concept," Miller says. "A lemonshark does not eat just any fish that comes across its path. It waits for premium fish, and it's an unusually social shark. That's our guiding principle, that we're choosy and picky in what we're supplying and in choosing our locations and who franchises our concept."

"We know we're not the first guys to jump into poke," he says. "But Richard and I have been familiar with the culture and food for a long time. We saw these poke shops and thought, 'Let's take the best things from each one.'"

One thing that sets them apart from the competition is that their restaurants are bigger than the typical poke shop, at least 1,800 to 2,200 square feet.

Another distinction is atmosphere. Their decor has a subtle, tasteful Japanese flair, honoring the country's influence on Hawaiian cuisine — "not tiki or Hawaiian postcard," Miller says.

"We've been in many poke places and felt like nobody was building a nice environment," he says. "We're creating an ambience that's nice enough where you would even go eat there on a Friday night."

They also make strong claims about their sourcing, such as the fact that all of their tuna is line-caught by hand from the Pacific Ocean, which means they're not accidentally also catching dolphins, sea turtles, and other fish.

Miller, who worked as an engineer and producer before switching his focus to food, is hands-on, visiting potential locations himself before a lease is signed. He's been in Dallas-Fort Worth a lot in the past few months, and isn's stopping there.

"Just last week I was in Houston and Austin looking at sites," he says. "We feel like Texas is a great market for LemonShark."

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun