Alberto Lombardi's new Dallas restaurant, Mar y Sol Cocina Latina, brings flavors from Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Argentina to an iconic McKinney Avenue spot.
Dallasites will acknowledge it as the previous website of Abacus, which was open for about 20 years and closed in 2019. Lombardi’s new restaurant appears to be like like an upscale seashore restaurant, with sheer curtains masking massive home windows and light-weight wooden on the partitions. It opens July 20, 2024.
Lombardi is aware of a factor or two about eating places, having opened his first one in Dallas almost 50 years in the past in 1977. He now has greater than 20, together with Bistro 31, Lombardi Cucina Italiana, Toulouse, Taverna and the brand new modern Chinese language restaurant Maison Chinoise and his Dallas speakeasy Regines.
Mar y Sol is impressed partially by Lombardi’s trip residence in Akumal, Mexico, close to Tulum. The room might instantly transport diners there, with its nest of branches extending over the bar in the midst of the eating room and the outsized Mexican planters holding leafy houseplants. It’s the first Dallas restaurant venture by architectural designer Filipe Nunes.
The looks of the restaurant is as vital because the meals, Lombardi stated.
“In my technology we used to go to a restaurant and simply eat,” he stated. “Right this moment, the restaurant needs to be alive.”
Govt Chef Ty Thaxton’s menu is impressed by Latin American nations (we’re exaggerating: there’s no Tex-Mex right here). Thaxton’s method is to take the flavors of the road meals he ate whereas residing in Mexico for 10 years and touring to Latin American nations. Then, he’ll “refine these basic dishes.”
The Mar y Sol menu begins with crudas (chilly, uncooked dishes) made with tuna, horse mackerel and the like. They’re Lombardi's favourites and appear to be a lightweight and cheerful solution to begin.
Most dishes are supposed to be shared, and in reality, a bit known as “To Share” lists octopus, empanadas, arepas, patatas bravas, queso fundido and duck flautas. Chef Thaxton likes chaufa, a fried rice dish impressed by Chinese language immigrants who settled in Peru. Every bowl of rice comes out scorching with brisket and mushrooms or pork stomach and shrimp, combined with greens. It could possibly be a hearty serving for only one particular person, however don’t be, Lombardi stated: Seize a spoon and ladle some out on your tablemates.
Prospects can be supplied chaufa and a tomahawk steak to share from a cart that may journey across the restaurant.
Most of the dishes on the “Land” and “Sea” menus are cooked on a wood-burning grill within the restaurant’s open kitchen. These embody butterflied purple snapper with lemongrass chilli crisp, the charred rooster dish with charred sugar snap peas and cuts of meat impressed by Argentine and Brazilian steakhouses.
Like lots of Lombardi's eating places, Mar y Sol has a jovial spirit, as in the event you might escape to Cabo for an evening. The restaurant has an air-conditioned entrance patio, a personal eating room and three bars. Oh, sure, that's the opposite factor: “I don't need individuals to attend too lengthy for a drink,” stated Lombardi, ever the host.
Mar y Sol is situated at 4511 McKinney Ave., Dallas. Opens July 20, 2024. Dinner solely at first.