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Restaurants, I’ve eaten at a few — hundred. In the last month, I revisited a few old favorites with new chefs, Georgie and Meridian. I visited the highly anticipated and spacious dining room of Avra, a Mediterranean fine dining chain that has opened in the Crescent Hotel. I also attended a pop-up from Molino Oloyo at Gaston, ahead of its opening in the space that used to house Cry Wolf, which should to happen early in 2026.
Let’s start with the best of the bunch, which was Molino Oloyo. Chefs Olivia López and Jonathan Percival, who are also life partners, are behind this Mexican pop-up that has garnered significant attention in Texas Monthly and earned the duo recognition in the Best Chef: Texas category from the James Beard Awards in 2023.
Each dish was better than the one before it. The meal began with bluefin tuna accompanied by Texas honeycrisp apple slices, served on a heirloom corn tostada. The masa that this duo makes is unbelievable and was the star in each course. Next came a thick, savory chileatole with a mix of oyster, maitake, and chanterelle mushrooms, the flavors of which shone thanks to the masa at the base of the soup. I don’t generally tell chefs that I don’t like mushrooms, neither the flavor nor the texture, but I could have eaten three bowls of this excellent soup. A wagyu sope gordo followed, with shredded beef nestled into a deep-dish crust of masa and plated on an eye-grabbing piece of Mexican pottery. Then, a piece of Gulf snapper topped with roughly chopped pico de gallo, meant to be torn apart by our forks and eaten in freshly made masa tortillas. A rich mole with confit duck, featuring crispy chunks of duck skin, also made its way to the table to be consumed in fresh, warm tortillas. Dessert was a tamal of cacao, garnished with Texas strawberries and pecans, and served with a vanilla ice cream that wasn’t too sweet, complementing the dark, chocolaty flavors.
Pescado served on Mexican ceramics.
Each bite was outstanding, leading into the next in a cohesive story. The dinner as a whole was an essay, a photo exhibit, a history lesson. If you haven’t made it to one of their pop-up dinners, do it. Or wait for the restaurant to open. It is going to be amazing.
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Next, to Georgie, where I spent Michelin eve. I've been writing about Georgie for quite some time, through two of its three chefs (it opened in November 2019). The fourth chef in residence is Wes Whitsell, who comes to Dallas from Gjelina and Hatchet Hall in Los Angeles, the latter of which earned its Michelin star under his direction. He grew up on a farm in Princeton, Texas, which his family still operates. As Brian Reinhart pointed out in a brief blurb for D magazine, Whitsell previously worked with Travis Street Hospitality as the executive chef at Up on Knox, now known as Knox Bistro.
The slide into Georgie's kitchen, however, doesn't seem to be a smooth one. Whitsall introduced a menu heavy on Texas cuisine and comfort food when he took the helm at the end of September, but the menu doesn't quite match the restaurant's aesthetic. A few dishes stood out, like the hamachi croque madame, a three-bite appetizer topped with the most perfect fried quail egg on top of white fish, a slice of ham, and brioche, all drowned in a burre blanc instead of hollandaise sauce. It is a simple but inventive twist on a classic that feels elevated enough for Georgie. Also notable is the melt-in-your-mouth cornbread served with shishito peppers and cheddar cheese, although I wish it came with one more element to elevate it beyond a dish I've had before. The venison loin with pork jowl vinaigrette, maitake mushrooms, and pomegranate seeds is also noteworthy. The meat in the middle of the dish was savory and prepared to perfection, but the mushrooms on the end were coated in a balsamic or pomegranate syrup a bit too thoroughly — I got a big bite of acid that was hard to wash away.
Hamichi croque madame with quail egg.
Currently, the overall impression at Georgie is that it is a costly farm-to-table restaurant, which is not in vogue. The prices don't reflect dishes that speak to family recipes and home cooking, rather than fine dining, and neither does the atmosphere. The by-the-glass wine list needs an overhaul. It feels like Whitsell needs to spend some more time eating at Dallas restaurants that are peers to Georgie, and to fine-tune his idea of what palates for fine dining in this city are. The chef before him set a high bar for creativity and a luxurious experience, while Whitsell isn't even offering a tasting menu. I am confident he will find his footing — the signs are there that Whitsell can pull this off.
On to another cornbread — let's talk about the reopened Meridian in the Village. The restaurant opened as a home for the celebrated Dallas chef, Junior Borges, who has earned James Beard recognition numerous times. It showcased Borges's take on Brazilian cooking. Borges did not leave on good terms after a change in management. Fun fact: Before Georgie was Georgie, Borges and Travis Street Hospitality had intended it to be his Brazilian bodega-style restaurant — a missed opportunity, eh? At any rate, Merdian lurched on for about a year and closed in mid-2024. It has undergone some renovations and hired a new chef, Eduardo Osorio, an unabashed Los Angelian who has had stints at Catch Hospitality, Dinex under Daniel Boulard, and most recently Chica in Miami. His foie and sea island cornbread has been all over my social feeds, and it did not disappoint. Blue corn cornbread topped with foie gras, caviar, shishitos, white cheddar, brown butter, and spiced honey — everything but the kitchen sink, really, and the dish didn't suffer for it. If anything, each new layer of flavor made it more enjoyable.
Osorio generously sent out more dishes than I could recap. Still, some highlights included two iterations of clams: one doused in chili sauce, grilled, and smoked, and the other with liquefied herbs and topped with pressed melon. Many Dallas restaurants offer oysters in various ways, but far too few clams are on the table — both were served on the half shell. Right now, the sharables, one-hitters, and various appetizers that make up the entire left side of the menu are the most exciting thing going, and one can make a meal of them with ease. The pastas and mains need a little balance between creativity and curb appeal. The duck breast was excellent, with a classic presentation, but after his over-the-top appetizers, I'd like to see more from Osorio's creative mind. The lamb bolognese sounds sexy on the page, but in reality was heavy and acidic, enough to prompt even the heartiest of eaters into acid reflux in the night.
Foie and sea cornbread, with truffles.
The vibe of the room is also in flux, with the booths in front of the bar ripped out and hastily replaced with bar tables, black clothes draped over the windows (perhaps an attempt to help diners forget this is in the middle of a giant apartment complex), and a new private dining room that has zero vibes. The dance of what this place is going to be has only just begun.
The Greeks chop it finer.
Finally, the hype beast restaurant of fall 2025, Avra. I’ll keep it brief: When a restaurant’s main selling point is that it has a gigantic dining room, think it all the way through. How big is the kitchen? How many plates does the kitchen have to churn out all night to keep things moving? How much time can they spend on those dishes? The food was all fine, and nothing more than fine because clearly no one had the time to put in extra effort to make it anything other than fine. The Greek salad consisted of large chunks of tomato, cucumber, and bell pepper, too large to fit in my mouth, so I had to make my own bites at the table. Our hostess told us her favorite item on the menu is the complimentary hummus. That never bodes well. It was unremarkable. The fish we ordered was fresh, but lacked any distinct flavor profile; it was simply a cooked fish. I can barely remember what else I ate; it was all as beige as the dining room walls. The people watching was pretty damn good, though. Let’s see how it’s going at seven months in.
Disclosure: My meals at Avra, Meridian, and Molino Oloyo were comped by the owners and arranged by publicists or chefs. I paid a tip at Avra, my dining companion paid the tip at Meridian, and I am still waiting for the fine folks at Molino Oloyo to bill me for my drinks. My meal at Georgie was comped by the owners, but that was not requested or arranged in advance. My dining companion intended to pay, as a belated birthday gift, and I left the decision in their hands — they did leave a tip. Always tip on your comped meals; it is correct to take care of your servers.