RIP Sam

Dallas restaurateur and Moroccan champion Sam Benoikken has died

Sam Benoikken snaps a selfie in Medina Oven's swanky restroom.

Courtesy photo

UPDATE 12-13-2019: A memorial will be held at Medina on December 18, at 4 pm. According to Susan Swarner Benoikken, it will be an informal event in which attendees can come and go.

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A beloved restaurateur has passed away: Sam Benoikken, owner of Moroccan restaurant Medina Oven in Dallas' Victory Park, died early in the morning unexpectedly on November 29; he was 61.

Benoikken was found on the couch by his wife Susan Swarner Benoikken, who posted the news of his death on his Facebook page.

Benoikken was a graduate of the University of North Texas with a BS in Hotel/Restaurant + Business Administration who went on to work at a number of restaurants including the Mansion on Turtle Creek before co-founding Medina Oven with his then-partner Yaser Khalaf.

A native of Morocco, Benoikken was a consummate host and avid champion of all things Moroccan, invariably ending his social media posts with a string of Morocco-themed hashtags.

Medina Oven was his first foray into ownership, which he opened in partnership with Khalaf. The restaurant represents a beautiful oasis in Victory Park, with its intimate atmosphere, stunning jewel-tone tapestries, plush pillows, and gilded touches.

The food earns uniformly high ratings from critics and diners alike, notching nearly 5 stars on public rating sites such as Yelp, for dishes such as the mixed sampler featuring four spreads — hummus, smoked eggplant, roast pepper-tomato, and harissa — with fresh oven baked pita bread. The restaurant helped introduce Moroccan dishes such as tagines and chicken with Moroccan olives and preserved lemon-saffron sauce to Dallas diners.

"Sam loved the restaurant business," Khalaf says. "He was a great passionate person who really paid his dues, working in every position until he mastered it. He was passionate about it, and that passion was maybe part of what killed him. He cared so much about the quality of what he did, and served as a father figure and coach to a lot of his staff."

Khalaf was a lifelong entrepreneur who had already opened L.A. Gourmet Pizza on McKinney Avenue when he and Benoikken first met. The two joined forces to open Medina in late 2007.

"I had been approached to open another pizzeria there, but Sam hijacked the menu from pizza to Moroccan," Khalaf says. "He had so much much knowledge and passion, the menu, the beautiful atmosphere, those were all his designs. I'm not Moroccan, but my family has history with the Moroccan government, and I was happy to learn something new. But that's why we have pizza at Medina, it was originally supposed to be a pizza place."

They went on to open Baboush in the West Village, but eventually parted ways, with Sam keeping Medina and Yaser keeping Baboush.

"We had different mindsets — I'm more of a businessman who likes restaurants, and he was more of a food guy," Khalaf says. "But I loved Sam, and I love Medina, and wish we could have done more things together."

Benoikken's wife Susan is a lifelong nurse who has been dealing with some health issues. As Sam didn't leave a will or life insurance, several of her friends have set up a Go Fund Me to help her over the hump while she sorts things out, and are asking for donations in lieu of flowers.

She and the Medina Oven staff are hoping to keep things humming, and Khalaf has stepped in to help in the interim.

Services will take place in Morocco where Benoikken's body has been sent, but a memorial service may be planned for later in Dallas.

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Joie de vivre

New Bishop Arts bistro brings French elan to historic Oak Cliff home

Photo courtesy of Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Trapèze is serving French fare in a laid-back bohemian yet deeply thought-out atmosphere.

Transforming historic Oak Cliff homes into dining destinations is an art, and a duo known for their Deep Ellum hot spots has a new work on display: Trapèze, a French bohemian bar and bistro, that has quietly opened at 240 W. 8th St. in a repurposed bungalow on the west end of the Bishop Arts District.

Owners Peter Novotny and Dan Murry, who operate Ruins on Commerce and Armoury D.E. on Elm Street, told CultureMap in February that they envisioned Trapèze as “an old-fashioned bohemian artist’s enclave.”

Now in the soft opening phase eight months later, they say, by "drawing inspiration from the old French bohemian bars and cabarets,” they've accomplished their goal of creating "a place where people can enjoy a great meal and drinks, listen to some music, and just lose track of time a little.”

Trapèze has been welcoming guests discreetly the last couple weekends, as they complete a few finishing touches both to the building — they are excited about the near-complete patio — and to the food: “We have a limited but very solid menu available now, and should have the full menu, brunch and all, ready very soon,” Novotny says.

A grand opening date is still in the works.

Novotny has said that inspiration for Trapèze came from Oak Cliff’s historical French influence. Bishop Arts once was home to the French utopian community La Reunion, which settled in the mid 1800s. The neighborhood pays homage to these roots at its annual Bastille on Bishop celebration.

“We’re trying to do a tribute to the French history of Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, and our goal is to capture the things we love about regional French cuisine and culture,” Novotny said earlier this year.

trapeze Designed by local artists at Decotron, the front-porch sign at Trapèze offers a taste of what's inside. Photo courtesy Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Novotny and Murry hired New York-bred chef Jeremy Spector to direct Trapèze’s culinary program. He’s worked in famous kitchens such as Balthazar and Gramercy Tavern and has owned and operated restaurants in NYC. The owners have told CultureMap that Spector's menu represents different regions of France, along with flavors inspired by France’s once-vast colonial empire, including Moroccan cuisine.

The bar menu is full of classic French and New Orleans-esque cocktails made with French spirits and liqueurs like absinthe and chartreuse; an extensive list of cognacs; French Caribbean-rooted Rhum Agricoles (or Agricole rums), and French and “French-adjacent” cider and beer.

The house that is now a restaurant underwent a massive revamp, which lasted months due in part to weather-related delays. To make matters more challenging, Trapeze is located in a conservation district, which means construction had to be done in a specific way that would preserve the home’s original look.

“It’s basically a complete renovation,” Novotny says. “They had to rebuild the entire structure. The whole exterior is all new.”

The new sign out front reads Bien Mangé, Bien Bu, which translates roughly to good food, good drink. Made by the sculptural artists at Decotron, an Elm Street-based signage fabrication company, it creates curb appeal and offers a preview of the attention to detail, whimsy, fine craftsmanship, and French flavor found inside.

Hours have been slightly fluid. At this time Trapèze is open 4 pm-"late" Wednesday-Thursday and 4 pm-2 am Friday-Sunday. Updated days and hours will be posted on Instagram along with information about live music performers, they say.

bar food drink craft cocktails french food live music bishop arts restaurants