Chef News
Dallas chef Avner Samuel opens new restaurant in tricky location
The words "Avner is back" have been typed many times, and now, like a scene out of the film Groundhog Day, they're being typed once again.
Chef Avner Samuel is re-opening Nosh Bistro, the last restaurant he had in Dallas, this time at 8611 Hillcrest Rd., at the northwest corner of Northwest Highway. According to a release, it will open in late summer 2019.
Samuel, who's been an on-and-off staple of Dallas' dining scene since the '80s, previously ran Nosh Euro Bistro at Turtle Creek Village, which he opened in the same spot that his fine-dining restaurant Aurora once resided.
Since he left, that location has not sat idle. It became Madrina, the acclaimed Mexican restaurant starring chef Julio Peraza, which closed in 2017; and is now home to Tulum, the upscale Mexican restaurant from Firebird Restaurant Group owner Mike Karns. How quickly time flies.
Samuel bailed in 2016, leaving behind a reputation for burning out staff and not paying his bills — claims that he says he prefers not to discuss. He decamped to Israel, then returned to Dallas in mid-2018 and worked briefly at Neiman Marcus in Plano. People can change, right?
The new Nosh will be open for lunch and dinner daily, with a bigger menu and rotating specials that incorporate global cuisine with Mediterranean, American, and Asian influences.
"Going back to Israel and immersing myself in the environment where I was first introduced to the art of cooking brought an edge back into the way I look at food and the guest experience I aim to create at Nosh Bistro," Samuel says in a statement. "Some of my most fond memories involve time spent in the kitchen and seated around the dinner table, and I hope to gift that to everyone that comes into the restaurant."
Menu highlights include:
- Wagyu Kobe Burger
- Seared Divers Scallops
- Black Maine Lobster Ravioli
Nosh will also offer brunch on Sunday with what a release describes as distinctive twists on popular favorites, such as eggs benedict with beef tenderloin, crepes, and steak & eggs.
The restaurant will boast a 12-seat chef's table and bar with a special tasting menu, overlooking the display kitchen. A patio will offer an all-day menu Monday-Saturday.
Decor will be "midcentury modern," with a wine room for private dining.
The location is the mildly doomed space most recently occupied by Dish Preston Hollow, and before that a Mexican restaurant, Soleo. It's in an odd shopping center with a hair salon and Top Pot Doughnuts, but parking is limited, and access can be complicated.
That said, if Avner's following could be pinned down to a neighborhood, Hillcrest and Northwest Highway is probably it.