Opening News

New restaurant Monaco on canals of Las Colinas summons the French Riviera

Redfish with onion marsala and woodear mushroom on a bed of celery root puree and served with sorrel greens.

Monaco

There's a new restaurant opening in Las Colinas inspired by the French Riviera. Called Monaco Restaurant, it's from a local team of food & beverage veterans, including the Lamberti family, who own Lamberti's Ristorante in Irving.

The restaurant will open in the Water Street area of Las Colinas, facing the canals — very French Riviera-like! — in the former Olivella's space at 5238 N. O'Connor Blvd. #134, Las Colinas.

According to a release, they'll usher in a soft opening in mid-August, when they'll serve a limited menu, before going large in mid-September. It'll be open for lunch, dinner, and brunch.

The menu includes:

Tartare of Filet
Burrata and Prosciutto with salsa verde
Hamachi Crudo
Neapolitan pizzas such as the Margherita, made by two cooks from Naples
chicken liver salad
Pork Boudin
Moroccan Beef Cheek with quinoa salad, prune, shallot, parsley, mint, preserved lemon, and macadamia nuts
Redfish Marsala with onion marsala and woodear mushroom on celery root puree with sorrel greens

Come on, that sounds good, especially prune in an entree, and celery root puree. Prices range from $9 to $36.

The restaurant will also feature a worldly wine program with labels not only from obvious places like France, Italy, and California, but also Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Sicily, New Zealand, Serbia, Macedonia, and Argentina.

Owner is David Lamberti, who previously worked in corporate development for I Fratelli, before opening Lamberti's Ristorante in a former I Fratelli space in 2017. Although his family has roots in East Coast Italian food, he's totally Team Irving, having grown up and attended college there, opened his businesses there, and currently residing with his family.

Staff is family, with longtime employees such as Assistant General Manager Johnny Hardy, who worked his way up from washing dishes at 15 to becoming a server, bartender, and into management. Hardy is also a musician and performs at local Dallas spots like Granada Theater and Doublewide.

Executive Chef and Beverage Director Matthew Perry is Hardy's brother-in-law and also worked for Lamberti at I Fratelli when he was a teenager. Perry helped open PM Lounge at The Joule Hotel and was heavily into the cocktail culture and bar programs for Victor Tango Parliament. He's also been a cook, mostly recently a sous chef in Austin; Monaco will be the first kitchen he leads.

General manager and sommelier is Frank Horak, also an Irving native, with sommelier experience at acclaimed restaurants such as Flora Street Cafe, Gemma, and Sachet. His goal is to create a wine program good enough to save local residents from having to drive elsewhere.

The idea for the restaurant was hatched during the pandemic when Lamberti discovered the former Olivella's space. After they get it rolling, they hope to open a bodega next door and a cocktail lounge behind the restaurant.

"It embraced everything we were wanting: a small spot by the water, a hidden gem, a destination, walkable and a place where we can create something special for the locals," he says.

openings

Chocolate News

Richardson dessert shop Chocolate Drip lays out eye-catching treats

Chocolate Drip

Chocolate bear with pistachio sauce at Chocolate Drip

A dessert shop in Richardson has become the toast of the sweets world: Called Chocolate Drip, it opened in August at 1057 S. Sherman St., in a center east of US-75 near Spring Valley Road, where it's rolling out some eye-catching chocolate treats.

Chocolate Drip is a passion project from Mohammad Quzmar, a Palestinian-born owner who moved to Dallas four years ago and taught himself to cook through tinkering. That experimentation has translated into a constantly evolving menu, with new creations appearing whenever inspiration strikes — earning him a growing reputation as something of a modern-day Willy Wonka.

"Chocolate is my passion. I just love being in the kitchen and creating,” he says.

The cafe's offerings are extensive, from sweet breakfast staples like pancakes and waffles to off-menu items teased on the café’s Instagram, such as the Dubai Drip platter — an interactive fondue plate with fruit, brownies, waffles, marshmallows, to be dipped into melted chocolate and pistachio cream.

Many of his items have the kind of eye-catching twists and table-side presentations that draw attention on Instagram, such as the cruffle (a waffle made from a croissant) topped with spaghetti-like strands of gelato, which a server extrudes through a potato ricer right before your eyes.

Other signatures include a teddy bear made of chocolate mousse and kanafa, finished with pistachio sauce for $13.30, and crepes filled with a brownie, with pistachio and chocolate sauce for $15.

Prices are not cheap but these are ultra-decadent items with generous portions, often meant for sharing.

The drink list is ambitious, spanning coffee, matcha, smoothies, milkshakes, and nonalcoholic mocktails. It's obvious Quzmar is having fun, rolling out his versions of viral items like the famous s'mores hot chocolate pioneered by New York dessert shop Glace, which features a cap made of marshmallow meringue that’s torched and topped with a chocolate bonbon.

There are also a few savory offerings like egg-and-cheese crepes, a salmon croissant, and a turkey waffle. Those in the know also come to order Middle Eastern treats like salab, a creamy milk drink topped with cinnamon; and Om Ali, a sugary pudding with nuts, dried fruit, and coconut.

Named after the Gen Z slang for “cool” or “stylish,” Drip is meant to be a hangout spot more than a quick dessert stop, Quzmar says — a place to linger over brunch, then return late night to a place that feels buzzy and fun sans alcohol.

“Everyone who works here is either family or treated like family and everything is homemade with love," he says.

desserts openings