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    What's Eric Eating Episodes 312 and 313

    Meet the dynamic duo behind seaside smash Pier 6, plus our trips to 2 Heights hot spots

    CultureMap Staff
    Sep 14, 2023 | 4:35 pm

    On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House owner Raz Halili and chef Joe Cervantez join CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss their restaurant. It's been about three years since Halili and Cervantez opened the waterside establishment in San Leon.



    The conversation touches on a number of topics, including ways the restaurant has changed in three years, its semifinalist nomination for Best New Restaurant in the James Beard Awards, and the challenges Cervantez and chef de cuisine Lexy Garcia face by having to maintain standards for such a large restaurant.

    "On expectations, the volume we operate at the restaurants. During the summer, we'll do 1,500 to 1,600 covers a day," Halili explains. "It gets pretty insane on the weekends during those peak times, and being able to execute at that high level is a lot. It's something day-in, day-out the attention has gotta be there."

    "When you're doing numbers that high, you really have to make sure we're not slinging food out of the kitchen," Cervantez adds. "Things still have to have their garnishes and look pretty. It's not just throwing food on the plate and sending it out."

    Listen to the full interview to hear Halili's take on the new breed of appelation oysters such as Murder Points and Barrier Beauties that are making a splash in the market. Cervantez also shares his impressions of Navy Blue, Aaron Bludorn's seafood restaurant in Rice Village.

    In this week's first episode, Sandler and co-host Linda Salinas discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: Reserve 101 offering vintage spirits; Dak & Bop returning to its original location in the Museum District; and the opening of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse's second location in Montrose.



    In the restaurants of the week segment, Salinas and Sandler share their thoughts on two establishments in the Heights. First, they discuss their meal at Moon Rabbit, the modern Vietnamese restaurant on 19th St. Then, they turn their attention to Best Regards, the stylish lounge and cocktail bar that recently opened in the former Chivos space.

    Pier 6 Seafood Joe Cervantez Raz Halili

    Photo by Kimberly Park

    Chef Joe Cervantez and Raz Halili are this week's guests.

    -----

    Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Sunday at noon on ESPN 97.5.

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    Bienvenido

    Michelin-starred Houston fine dining restaurant plots new Dallas concept

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    Jul 29, 2026 | 10:00 am
    Masia Uptown Dallas
    Photo courtesy of Masia
    Rendering of the bar and entry of Masia.

    A Houston hospitality group behind a Michelin-starred restaurant is bringing a new Spanish fine-dining restaurant to Uptown Dallas: Masía, from Houston-based Arrels Hospitality Concepts, will open at 2530 Fairmount St. in winter 2026-2027, according to a release.

    The restaurant comes from the team behind Houston's Michelin-starred BCN Taste & Tradition and the Madrid-inspired restaurant MAD. BCN was awarded a Michelin star in the inaugural Texas Guide in 2024.

    The name "Masía" refers to a traditional Catalan farmhouse, and the restaurant is intended to reflect that style of home-grown hospitality and dining, the owners say.

    Founder Ignacio "Nacho" Torras, who earlier this year debuted on the Forbes billionaires list, says the project is especially meaningful to him, and he looks forward to sharing the company's vision of Spanish food and hospitality with Dallas.

    "We want to create a restaurant that feels refined, but also warm and intimate," he says in the release. "A place where guests can enjoy as we do in a countryside home in Spain."

    The restaurant will occupy a 3,500-square-foot space with seating for 86 indoors and another 20 on a patio.

    The kitchen will be led by Spanish chef Lenin Busquet, whose résumé includes Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain. He served as head chef at Annua, where he helped maintain the restaurant's two Michelin stars, and later led Ment, which earned its first Michelin star six months after opening. In 2022, he joined ABISS in Calpe, Spain, and received the Promising Chef of the Valencian Community award.

    Though menu details are not available yet, Busquet says it will combine Spanish techniques with Texas ingredients.

    "The culinary concept behind Masia is rooted in Spain's rich traditions while remaining deeply connected to the ingredients and community that surround us here in Texas," he says. "Our philosophy is built on a profound respect for exceptional local products, which we approach through the lens of Spanish culinary heritage.

    "By combining the finest regional ingredients with classic recipes and techniques from our homeland, we aim to create a dining experience that reflects who we are, where we come from, and why Spain has one of the world's most celebrated gastronomic cultures."

    The restaurant is being designed by Dallas-based Gensler Architects with natural wood, stone, and a neutral color palette inspired by a contemporary Spanish farmhouse. The space will also feature artwork from Torras' private collection.

    "Masía will reflect the calm, generous spirit of a Spanish farmhouse through a contemporary lens," the owners say.

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