Welcome to SideDish’s weekly dispatch of need-to-know News Bites, from quiet closures to opening updates and everything in between.
Sharon Van Meter Is Opening a Wine Bar in Oak Cliff
Dallas CultureMap reports that the luminary will take over the Victor Hugo’s space, which shuttered in May due amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As one chapter closes, another one—a wine bar, dessert-centric one—opens. Sharon Van Meter will bring a wine bar dubbed Beckley 1115, presumably named for the address (1115 North Beckley Avenue). Van Meter plans to have wine by the glass, on tap, and by the bottle, all paired with a locally focused menu, of course. The 3015 at Trinity Groves founder will bring in pastry chef Diana Zamora to dream up multicourse dessert tastings for the wine bar. (Zamora recently moved into a kitchen space at 3015 to run her pastry shop Nena Postreria.)
Japanese Yakiniku Restaurant, Manpuku, Opens on Greenville Ave. This Month
The L.A.- and Tokyo-based chain will open its first Texas outpost on June 29 at 2023 Greenville Avenue in the former Yucatan Taco Stand space. Manpuku will bring Japanese yakiniku dining—meats and veggies grilled tableside—to Lowest Greenville. Choose from prime beef cuts, kobe, and wagyu or let the chef decide in an omakase-style meal designed for two or four people. The Negi Shio Yakiniku, which consists of slice beef topped with garlic, sesame oil, and other seasonings, is one of Manpuku’s signature dishes that was created over 70 years ago at the first location in Tokyo.
Omakase in the Continental Gin Building
The historic and newly revived Deep Ellum structure installed Fiction Coffee as its caffeine peddler for Common Deskers and the general public alike. Now, it’s adding an eight-seat omakase sushi counter from Tatsuya Sekiguchi. After a decade at New York’s Sushi Yasuda, Sekiguchi will open his eponymous restaurant, Tatsu, where he’ll serve Edomae sushi, a famously traditional style born in Tokyo (formerly known as the city of Edo) wherein pristine seafood is prepared with precision—a vinegar wash perhaps, or a light cure, or a gentle sear—and served on a mound of perfectly made rice. It won’t open until late this year or in early 2022.
Chubby Dog Farms Has New Owners
Karyn and Calvin Medders produce some of the finest and most sought-after pork in the area. Their East Texas farm raised happy pigs for even happier Dallas chefs who proudly put Chubby Dog on their menus. When the couple announced they wanted to move closer to family, it meant passing on the spirit of Chubby Dog Farms to someone who can keep up with the standard the Medders have set. Those someones, reports Dallas Observer, happen to Dez and Daniel Brown of Driftwood Meadows. They run a farm just 30 minutes from the Medders’. While the Chubby Dog name will retire, the pigs—which won’t be ready for restaurants for several months—and the quality will live on.
