Tesar Doing Nose-to-Tail-Fin Cooking at Spoon

John Tesar is drawing from a wide sphere of influences for his upcoming Preston Center restaurant, Spoon Bar & Kitchen. In an interview with CultureMap Dallas, Tesar cites Rick Moonen's RM Seafood for inspiring the concept, as well as Eric Ripert's storied New York palace of seafood, saying Spoon will be "As if Le Bernardin came to Dallas, but not so fancy schmancy."

He also credits Marc Forgione for a Singaporean lobster chili dish (given the Tesar twist of being served on Texas toast), and Michael White at Manhattan's Marea for a dish of pasta with red wine-braised octopus and bone marrow. (Sounds pretty exotic for Dallas, but if Jason Maddy's octopus and pork jowl dish at Oak has been a smash success, perhaps Tesar will knock it out of the park with this one.)

Spoon will get all of its fish in whole and butcher them in-house in order to utilize the whole fish, in a concept that sounds not unlike the whole animal allocation program at Acme F&B. Is Dallas ready for eel "head cheese"?

Spoon Bar & Kitchen is scheduled to open sometime next month; reality TV enthusiasts can catch Tesar on Top Chef: Seattle, premiering November 7.

· John Tesar Breaks Down the Menu at Spoon, His New Seafood Spot in Preston Center [CultureMap Dallas]
· Previous Spoon coverage on Eater Dallas [-EDFW-]

[Photo credit: Bravo]