One of Dallas’ best new restaurants has a new top toque: David Fingerman replaces Julio Peraza as executive chef at Madrina, a finalist for Best New Restaurant in the 2016 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.
Fingerman comes to Dallas by way of Chicago, where he served as executive chef at Graham Elliot Bistro. While there he earned a nomination for Best Chef de Cuisine in the 2015 Jean Banchet Awards. The self-taught Fingerman also fancies himself a storyteller, striving to provide guests with a beginning, middle, and end on every plate, according to a release.
Sal Jafar II, partner and co-founder of Madrina parent Misery Loves Company, calls Fingerman a “creative and passionate chef with an incredible level of raw talent.” He’s expected to continue Madrina’s tradition of marrying Mexican flavors with French techniques in such dishes as double-cut pork chop with potato puree, tomatillo relish, and homemade passila bordelaise.
Peraza, a nominee for Chef of the Year in the most recent Tastemaker Awards, departed Madrina to focus on family.
“We all have a lot of respect for chef Peraza,” Jafar says. “He was an instrumental part of opening Madrina, and we wish him all the best in this next stage of his life.”
