Deep Ellum News

Trinity Cider partners with Picadera street food in new Dallas venture

Trinity Cider

An exciting new food & drink venue is coming in Deep Ellum: Called Trinity Cider X Picadera, it will combine two great tastes — Trinity Cider, the sophisticated craft cider maker; and Picadera, the award-winning Dominican street food concept — under one delicious roof.

The new spot will be located at 2721 Main St. in Deep Ellum, in the former Crowdus Bar and, before that, home of Drugstore Cowboy, and is scheduled to open in December.

Trinity Cider is the laid-back bar that's been serving house-made craft ciders and sake at their current location at 2656 Main St. since 2018. They'd already been thinking about a larger space, and jumped at the opportunity when Crowdus Bar closed. The new bar will be triple the size of their current spot, and it comes with a kitchen, which allows them to have a consistent food offering, as opposed to the pop-ups they currently host.

For Trinity Cider owners Evan Kalstad and Brian Meyer, Picadera was the perfect choice.

“We have had over 20 companies who do pop-ups, and a lot of them were interested in running our kitchen, but it came down to the food I liked," Kalstad says.

Picadera is from Michael Tavarez, who started the concept as a pop-up in 2020, doing Latin street food, setting up camp at buzzy spots around town, creating a space where he could give Dominican people a taste of home. He drew a large and loyal following not only for his authentic and heartfelt dishes but also for the festive patio party experience that always arose.

Trinity Cider Picadera Trinity Cider X PicaderaPicadera

In 2023, Picadera moved from pop-up model to ghost kitchen, with three Latin food concepts at Commerce Fork Food Co. While this expanded the business, it also diluted the street parties Picadera was known for. Cooking in a closed kitchen focusing on to-go items took out all the fun.

“Mentally, I was done, so I had to close it," Tavarez says. "But I got a lot of positive comments and support, so I knew I could not let my brand die."

It was a breath of fresh air when Tavarez got a chance to participate at the State Fair, and real validation when he helped work on the dish that won the Big Tex Choice award for Best Savory item, the Dominican Fritura Dog. (Tavarez partnered with the Martinez family who've been at the state fair of Texas since 1977.) The positive energy continued when he got the chance to partner with Trinity Cider.

They're still finalizing the menu, but it will include favorites like empanadas, croquettes, tostones rellenos, Dominican smashed burgers, a bodega chopped cheese sandwich, and a Wagyu hot dog.

They're also working on dishes that can be enjoyed while dining in and paired with draft cider. The star dish will be a Dominican twist on steak frites, with skirt steak, plantain fries, and Wasakaka sauce, a herby sauce resembling chimichurri. This plate will be also available with camarones al ajillo as an add-on, for a surf and turf option.

Options include mofongo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish of mashed plantains, served with proteins such as pork belly, churrasco, camaron al ajilllo, and queso frito as a meatless option. Dessert will include a tres leches cake made with famous Entenmann's pound cake; and Yaniqueque, a Dominican dessert similar to buñuelos, cut into strips, with dulce de leche ice cream.

The food menu is designed to complement the all-natural, gluten-free hard cider provided by Trinity Cider. Seasonal cider flavors will include pineapple, passion fruit, watermelon, peach tree, and slightly spicy mango, which they will rotate regularly. Their drink menu will also include non-alcoholic cider, as well as their famous sake bombs.

“Hard cider and Dominican food go very well together. A lot of the things that pair well with cider are ingredients that Dominican food is based on. It is a match made in heaven," Evan says.

deep-ellum openings

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun