A new wine bar and bistro just debuted in North Dallas: Called Palate, it's now open at 17390 Preston Rd. #246, where it's serving what a release describes as sophisticated sips and shareable bites.

Palate is from Tom Burt and Christopher White, who also own Lekka Retail Concepts, the gift and home décor store, which they relocated to Preston Trails shopping center in 2023. Seeing an opening next-door, they collaborated with the landlord on the vision for the space.

While neither Burt nor White had a background in restaurants, they're residents of the North Dallas neighborhood where the restaurant is located, and wanted to create a place with a sense of community.

“We wanted a place where we could not only bring our friends, but a place where everyone could make new friends,” Burt says.

White’s background includes decades with retailers suchas Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and JCPenney. Burt’s career has been in human resources, most recently with Children’s Health. The duo acquired Lekka Retail Concepts in 2018.

The restaurant’s name references both a culinary palate as well as an artistic palette. The restaurant walls are a gallery of local art, all of it for sale. There are hand-blown glass chandeliers and a collection of Ginkgo trees surrounding a wishing well-inspired space for wine corks, collected to preserve memories created while at Palate.

Executive chef Eddie Ledesma-Porter is a CIA graduate and certified sommelier who has worked at the Ritz-Carlton and Cameron Mitchell Restaurants (Ocean Prime).

"Food is meant to be shared,” Ledesma-Porter says in a statement. “Seeing Tom and Christopher’s vision for Palate, it was clear that we needed to create a menu designed to create a sense of community brought together by great food.”

They're open for lunch and dinner with a menu that includes Mediterranean-inspired dishes like rustico meatballs, Tuscan hummus, and patatas bravas, plus wine country staples such as duck confit sliders, citrus-marinated olives, and whipped goat cheese.

There are flatbreads including a housemade sausage and sage; plus salads such as the house salad with caramel spiced walnuts, goat cheese, apple, in Champagne vinaigrette; and Sirtaki Greek salad, named for the dance of that region.

Soups include a Southwestern-inspired chicken tomatillo and a creamy vegan cauliflower cashew soup. A collection of handhelds rounds out the entrees. Desserts include a Palate cookie box, with three house-made baked treats designed to be taken home or eaten in the restaurant.

The menu offers vegetarian, vegan, and GF options, as well.

There's also a full bar with craft cocktails and a special emphasis on wine, with favorites such as a Pierre Sparr Cremant made with whole cluster fermentation; Argyle’s Bloom House Pinot Noir; and even an acclaimed Châteauneuf-du-Pape at under $100 per bottle.

“For us, wine became the canvas, and food became the paint,” Burt says, echoing the premise behind the restaurant’s name.