McKinney Avenue Makeover
Barter restaurant revives Private Social space with Tim Love menu
Barter is featuring charcuterie prominently.Photo courtesy of Barter
Barter's space has lots of wood and brick.Courtesy of Barter
Barter's menu includes sandwiches.Courtesy of Barter
Third time's the charm, maybe, as brothers Michael and Patrick Halbert try one more time in the old Private Social space with a newly named restaurant called Barter. The chef this time is Andrew Dilda, who worked at Woodshed Smokehouse in Fort Worth. Chef Tim Love is serving as menu consultant.
The restaurant opens on December 11, beginning with dinner hours, with an eventual expansion to lunch and brunch. Pastry chef is Ryan Jungman, and Private Social mixologist Rocco Milano is still running the bar.
This space has gone through at least two iterations already, from its opening as a showcase for Top Chef contestant Tiffany Derry to its platform for the experimental cuisine of "Pilgrim Chef" Najat Kaanache.
Love represents the third high-profile chef, and his stamp can be felt all over the menu. There is game meat like boar ribs, as well as steaks sold by the ounce, just like at Queenie's, his Denton steakhouse.
Love also puts his creative spin on vegetables and sides such as the carrot "home fries," a cousin to the beet fries at Lonesome Dove. Items such as striped bass tostada, Tuaca-roasted acorn squash, fried collard greens and banana pudding feel very Texas home-cooking.
