Sophisticated Bar Colette brings Michelin-winning bartender to Dallas’ West Village

Here’s a look inside Bar Colette.

The new Bar Colette, opening Nov. 14, 2023, is intended to be an international jet-set through cities like London, Paris and Mexico City, in Dallas’ West Village.

Brothers Brandon and Henry Cohanim opened the bar next door to their omakase restaurant Namo as a complementary spot for before-dinner drinks or after-dinner cocktails and dessert. It’s a small, sophisticated place with ochre-colored curved seats and blush-colored barstools, and room for just 34 people inside.

“Everything we do here is intentional,” Brandon says. “And curated.”

At the heart of Bar Colette is the cocktail list created by Ruben Rolon. The Michelin Guide gave Argentinian-born Rolon its 2022 Florida Exceptional Cocktails Award.

Rolon isn’t much for the spotlight — he chose to leave the award back in Miami at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Le Jardinier, where he earned it. (And he almost didn’t go to the Michelin ceremony; he didn’t expect to win.)

Rolon’s cocktails at Colette are designed to be “science-forward” drinks that are fermented, infused or sous vide with seasonal ingredients. He doesn’t want to dwell on the processes that happen in the kitchen, before the bar opens for business.

“I believe in a quiet bar,” he says. About 70% of the menu is already batched and ready to pour.

“We take a lot of time in the back, so that, up here, it’s quick,” he says.

Inside Bar Colette, the newest cocktail lounge in Dallas

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The Cohanim brothers named their bar after a fictional world-traveler. Colette, in their minds, is confident and passionate. “She may go to Italy and have prosciutto and melon,” Brandon says. “And we might make a cocktail inspired by that journey.”

Executive chef Nicholas Pissare created a menu that swings from bar snacks to a full dinner. Brandon calls the cheddar-chili-lime popcorn “addictive.” Other small bites include raw oysters with yuzu mignonette and French onion dip with house-made potato chips. The caviar and waffle service is pricey — $125 to $175. And playful: The savory waffle, served thin and crispy, is a replacement for a blini.

Pissare’s menu also offers steak au poivre with French fries and dry-aged duck with a duck-walnut jus and blackberry gelée.

The owners and Rolon think Bar Colette’s milk punch could become a staple. It’s that drink that helped Rolon win the Michelin award. And it’s that drink that Brandon was sipping when he visited Miami three years ago.

“I was like, ‘Who is making these cocktails?’” Brandon says he said during a stop into Le Jardinier in Miami, while waiting for a table at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. “They’re special.”

Brandon got Rolon’s number that day. He called him a few years later to offer him a job in Dallas.

The cocktail menu ranges from a tarragon-infused vodka drink with beets called Beets Me to a boozy cake-in-a-glass Carrot Cake. Rolon’s negroni, called the Rosetta, includes hoja santa, a Mexican herb.

Bar director Rolon doesn’t drink much, so he added several “two sip” cocktails to the menu. They have 1 ounce of alcohol in them instead of 2, but they’re designed to be just as interesting as the other cocktails. The Tartini is a dirty martini — but teeny.

There’s lots to explore here, like the tequila and quince drink cleverly called the Fresh Quince of Bel Air. But when in doubt, order Rolon’s favorite, a lower-ABV “two sip.” That’s the Wailea, made with fluffy pineapple and red bitter.

“I love it,” Rolon says.

Bar Colette is at 3699 McKinney Ave., Suite 306 (in West Village, in place of the former Pok the Raw Bar), Dallas. It opens Nov. 14, 2023. Open six days a week starting at 5 a.m.; closed Mondays.

Source : The Dallas Morning News