In October of 2014 we announced that chef Andrew Bell had resigned from his executive chef position at Bolsa to take the reins at Lombardi restaurant, Bistro 31. Since Bell’s departure, chef Joel Harrington has quietly stepped in as head chef. Harrington’s work experience includes Red Rooster in Harlem, STK’s flagship location in the Meatpacking District of New York, Stephan Pyles, and Charlie Palmer at The Joule. Harrington moved back to Dallas from New York a couple of months ago to take the position.
“I have a passion for locality,” Harrington explained to me yesterday, “the new menu at Bolsa is based on New Texas cuisine, it’s very approachable [but] there are things that will surprise you.” The menu has been completely revamped, and some of the new dishes include braised goat, chicken liver macarons, and tuna tartare with ancho chili Pop Rocks. “We’re doing fun things,” he continued “it’s just fun cuisine… I’ve teamed up with Joe the Baker, we’re doing a carrot cake together, a goat cheese brownie, and a chocolate mousse that’s citrusy, with Texas olive oil, and sea salt…” he paused “…that’s one of my favorite things.”
While many new items have been added (and taken off) the menu, some dishes aren’t going anywhere, “we’ll still have staples like the Twig and Branch flatbread,” Harrington said, “[and] we’ve made only a few changes to the brunch menu, that’s a tougher beast to change, we have added a few new egg dishes.”
While Harrington is taking the menu in a creative and playful direction, his mission is to continue to champion farm-to-table and sustainable food sources, “I’ve created a menu based on local, seasonal, to-the-minute products,” he explained, “…there are so many local farmers, if they have something special, I’ll put it on [the menu] tomorrow. The menu is going to change with the seasons… I’m always creating.”
The new menu is available now.
