Chef News

Top Dallas chef re-emerges at upscale Mexican pop-up at West Village

Chef is in the kitchen at Mexican Test Kitchen in Dallas' West Village.

MTK

There's culinary action brewing in Dallas' West Village with an award-winning chef turning out some amazing Mexican food. It's a new restaurant pop-up called Mexican Test Kitchen, located at 3699 McKinney Ave. #307, and it stars Matt McCallister, one of Dallas' most high-profile chefs.

Mexican Test Kitchen is the working title for a new concept in the works between McCallister and restaurateur Mike Karns, who recently took ownership of the West Village. It occupies the space that was previously Honest Taco (and before that, Taco Diner); Honest Taco closed in April.

For now, they are doing a pop-up, with a menu that McCallister has designed, featuring tacos, bowls, and salads, plus inventive margaritas.

"I didn't want to see the West Village get hurt with the closure of a restaurant, so we mobilized our team and opened Mexican Test Kitchen as a pop-up," Karns says.

Their plan is to be open this summer with an interim menu of dishes they are developing, while they reconcept and redesign the space.

"It'll still be Mexican but leaning a little more healthy than Tex-Mex — more like healthy Mex, with a lower price point and a little more casual," Karns says. "We feel like it will bring some energy to West Village."

McCallister is the award-winning chef who at age 31 founded FT33, an acclaimed restaurant in the Design District. It earned numerous accolades both locally and nationally in magazines such as Bon Appétit and Food & Wine. He followed that up with Homewood, a restaurant he opened on Oak Lawn Avenue in 2019, which made Texas Monthly's Best New Restaurant list in 2020, and Best New Restaurant in CultureMap's 2020 Tastemaker Awards.

McCallister is now working with Karns' Local Favorite Restaurants group (El Fenix, Snuffer's, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Tulum, Village Burger Bar, Jalisco Norte, Twisted Root) full time. He joined following the untimely closure of Homewood in February.

"When Homewood closed, I reached out to Matt," Karns says. "He works with us now as well as Alex Urrunaga (Plan B Group, Reach Restaurants)."

That team will help create their fun new concept. Karns says they'll close the pop-up in late August, then re-open in September after the remodel is complete.

"Mike is a super cool guy, it's kinda crazy I get to work for him," McCallister says. "At the end of the day I just want to contribute my slice of the pie to Mike's vision for the company."

Those craving McCallister flavors can meanwhile enjoy the current pop-up menu featuring:

Citrus pig with citrus-braised carnitas, griddled onions, pineapple, cotija cheese, & mint
Brisket, barbacoa style with rajas, blistered corn, & chipotle mayo
Asada Steak with cilantro, caramelized onion, peanut salsa macha
Grilled chicken with smoky chipotle marinade, chiles toreados
Habanero lime shrimp with pickled red onion & watermelon radish
Tempura cod with Mexican tartar sauce, & green cabbage crunch
Griddled Camote (sweet potato) with goat cheese, toasted pepita sprinkle, charred green onions
Mexican mushroom with caramelized creminis, maitakes, trumpets, & oyster mushrooms, griddled onion, cilantro, & watermelon radish

Chips & queso feature a pale whipped queso fresco with peanut salsa macha and pumpkin seed crunch. Guacamole comes topped with pomegranate and toasted pistachio.

Salads and bowls include a beautiful ensalada rossa with wild arugula & matchstick beets; a “shades of green” salad with hearty greens, spinach, tri-color quinoa, crispy chickpeas, avocado, roasted corn, dried cranberries, & green Carognola olives; and a Ranchero bowl with black beans, white rice, sweet potato, marinated beets, crispy Brussels sprouts, Mexican kimchee, hearty greens, & mojo.

If all that's not enough, everything's crazy-cheap: Tacos come in at $4-5, and salads and bowls at $12.

tacos tex-mex openings

Now brewing

New Love Field-area coffee shop brews matcha and community in Dallas

Instagram/Go Culture Cafe

A matcha drink from Go Culture Cafe.

A new coffee shop and gathering space is coming to the Dallas Love Field area. Called Go Culture Cafe, it will be located at 5606 Maple Ave., Ste. 110, near Inwood Rd., and will open after the Fourth of July.

The concept comes from Farhan Fallahi, an Iran-born fashion designer who has lived in Dallas for 11 years and owns the wedding and event planning company Wedding Erah.

The 1,000-square-foot coffee shop is designed to be a collaboration hub, he says, outfitted with benches, chairs, small tables, and a large coffee bar.

The drink menu will include traditional espresso options like lattes, macchiatos, and mochas, alongside a variety of matcha beverages. Specialty drinks will feature a saffron matcha, saffron latte, fig matcha, fig latte, and an extra-creamy matcha made with heavy cream. They will also offer a mocha latte topped with a cold matcha foam. All coffee drinks will be priced under $9.

To source their beans, they have partnered with Eiland, the Richardson-based artisan roaster.

Additionally, Go Culture Cafe will serve specialty, high-protein smoothies packed with nuts, dates, fruit, and other premium, health-conscious ingredients. The 16-ounce smoothies will retail for around $18.

An iced mocha latte topped with cold matcha foam, one of the signature specialty drinks at Go Culture Cafe.Photo courtesy of Go Culture Cafe

For food, Fallahi is partnering with several local bakeries to offer pastries such as a banana bread cookie, red velvet cookie, and matcha muffins, as well as savory items like avocado toast and cottage cheese toast. All food items will be priced below $10.

The idea for the coffee shop came up unexpectedly, he says.

“I started doing a lot of events and flower pop-ups in front of restaurants and cafes," Fallahi says. "It was cool to see how people would connect over pastries and coffee."

He initially looked into launching a coffee truck before finding the brick-and-mortar location next to a RaceTrac gas station. The building previously housed a coin laundry and a vacant storefront before the landlord divided it into smaller retail spaces.

Fallahi admittedly has no prior background or experience in the coffee industry, which is actually the inspiration behind the entire concept.

“When you start a business from the ground up, it can be very lonely,” he says.

He designed Go Culture Cafe to be a destination for anyone starting something new and seeking inspiration or motivation. The “Go” in the name is a direct invitation for people to “go for it.”

“Whatever it is you’re going after, go for it, even if you don’t feel completely ready," Fallahi says. "Nobody knows exactly what they are doing. Go Culture Cafe is a space for people to gather, collaborate, and make connections.”

Hours of operation will be 7 am-7 pm Monday-Saturday an 9 am-5 pm Sunday.

A grand opening is planned for mid-July, featuring live music, a balloon artist, and other surprises, he says. True to the cafe's roots, the space will host future pop-up events and collaborations to foster community connection.

coffee shop dallas love field matcha coffee