French- and Italian-influenced Mamani is one of Dallas’s most anticipated restaurant openings of the year, in large part because chef Christophe De Lellis left his role as executive chef at Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas to open it and take a partner role in the Feels Like Home hospitality group, started by Brandon and Henry Cohanim (Namo, Bar Colette). De Lellis moved to Dallas about a year ago, and for a time took over the kitchen at Bar Colette. With his family, he moved into a house in the Lakewood area and has been eating his way through Dallas, learning to love two of the major food groups: barbecue (he says Terry Black’s is his favorite so far) and tacos (he goes for Resident Taqueria).
De Lellis joined Eater to visit a few favorite local haunts he hadn’t tried yet and talk about the culture clash of going from Europe to Vegas to Texas, his thoughts on consomme (and consomé), and hot tips for shaking a good espresso martini.
Our first stop is the newest location of Hurdato Barbecue in the Dallas Farmers Market in Uptown, where we order the El Jefe, which has one third of a pound each of brisket, pulled pork, spare ribs, turkey, burnt ends, and sausage. We add on sides of Mexican street corn, and De Lellis insists on a vegetable with actual fiber in it, so we also get the creamy red slaw.
It was a bit of a negotiation to find a barbecue spot to visit with De Lellis because he’d already visited several that I initially suggested. He has truly been busy learning about Texas barbecue. The barbecue destinations have become the first places he takes visiting friends and family out to eat. “I was surprised that in Las Vegas on the Strip there isn’t barbecue. There are tourists from all over the world, and for most of them that equals American food. I never had barbecue until I moved to Texas,” he says, adding that all the Europeans he’s taken to eat barbecue have loved it.
This chef knows barbecue.
From the appearance of the plate, De Lellis’s expectations were high for the smoked turkey, but the pulled pork ended up being his favorite bite. “I love all braised meats, shredded meats. In restaurants or for myself I like to cook beef cheeks and oxtail, and it reminds me of that,” he says. The pork rub and sauce are so flavorful that they overpower the rest of the tray. He suggests it would be good on a Cubano sandwich, and doesn’t immediately shut down the idea of a Hurtado collaboration with Mamani, so we’ll be looking out for it.
The one thing that stumps him on the platter is the chile-dusted Mexican corn, Hurtado’s take on traditional elote. This was the moment that the former chef from a three-Michelin-starred kitchen had the concept of taco seasoning, a blend of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder, explained to him by a Texan. Unlike the rest of us, he probably won’t be picking up a jar in the grocery store. De Lellis will make his own. “I get the cumin a lot, which is good because it brings a freshness to all the cheese and fat, almost cutting it,” he says. De Lellis notes that Hurtado and Terry Blacks do good sides, a small detail he feels is significant. “For me, it is the small details,” he says. “I judge the sides, because you can see the attention to detail. At most of the places you go, people don’t know how to cook green beans and serve them undercooked, which I think is disgusting. Small details show how much care is taken every step of the way.”
De Lellis says he has smoked meats before but not to make barbecue. “I would love to learn and understand the craft from a pitmaster around here,” he tells me, noting that even in a French fine dining menu there may be some element of barbecue technique that he could incorporate.
The next stop is for birria tacos at Chilangos Tacos on Ross Avenue. De Lellis has already tried tacos, but has had no exposure to birria, so it’s on. The initiated know this Old East Dallas location looks like your average strip mall spot from the parking lot, but inside is a party marked by a trompo, bright colors, and people queuing up for dripping, red-stained quesabirria tacos. We have to fight to get a little table after ordering a quesabirria platter. “It does remind me of the taco joint I used to go to in Vegas, Tacos El Gordo,” he says, noting those were likely the first tacos he ever had, not long after he arrived in 2010.
Chilangos never disappoints. Courtney E. Smith
“They do traditional tacos and it makes you feel like you’re in Mexico.” He misses the Latin cooks he worked alongside in the kitchen in Vegas, who made their food for family meals, which he says was always the best. “Mr. Robuchon loved Mexican food, and he would always ask the cooks to make it for him,” De Lellis says. “I love the way Mexicans approach food, how they season it, even the beautiful ingredients they use.”
When the birria hits the table (well, really when De Lellis politely picks it up after our order is called), he eyeballs the consomé and asks how we eat the spread. I tell him to sprinkle the onion and cilantro mix onto the quesabirria tacos and then dip them into the fatty broth made with meat drippings. After the first bite, he grabs the cup of consomé to try it. “I love consomme,” he says, adding that it’s the “heart and soul” of his cooking, like a quintessential French chef would. “When I did tasting menus back in Vegas, and before dessert I served a shot of consomme to the guests, something fresh like lemongrass with lime with chicken. It feels good after a heavy meal and cleans your palate.”
Christophe De Lellis sits down for his first experience with birria. Courtney E. Smith
This consomé, obviously, is not the same, he notes, but it does require the same building blocks. “Whatever stock or broth you make, it is the most important thing,” he says. “I prefer using three to five ingredients. That’s why I love Mexican food. Robuchon told me this quote and I say it all the time and live by it: ‘It is easy to make it complicated, but complicated to make it simple.’”
Before we dive into the tacos, De Lellis tells me he is 50/50 on preferring flour tortillas over corn, but after we tear through the birria, he expresses a deeper appreciation for Chilango’s crispy, savory corn tortillas. In fact, he’s ready to not only sing its praises but to call Chilango’s quesabirria one of his favorite tacos he has had in the country.
What would a trip around Dallas be without a stop at one of Gabe Sanchez and Ryan Payne’s bars? Those two are among the best mixologists in the city, and, as it turns out, De Lellis hasn’t visited any of their spots, in part because he’s spent a lot of time imbibing the also top-notch cocktails at Bar Colette. But since he lives on the east side of town, I think he should know about them. We pick Saint Valentine so we can also scarf down some of the fried olives stuffed with sausage from Jimmy’s Food Store (now sadly not on the menu but for a damn good reason — chef Misti Norris’s Rainbow Cat has taken over the kitchen permanently). Though De Lellis shares that he’s got a little list of bars he wants to try going to, including Michelin Award winner Rye and Ayahuasca Cantina in Oak Cliff, having a young kid stops him from making it out much.
Finishing strong with a cocktail at Saint Valentine. Courtney E. Smith
De Lellis orders the Sazerac and proclaims the fried olives a “good snack.” I tell him that the Italian grocery store, which is kitty-corner from the bar, is one of the beloved spaces in town for dry goods, imported oils and vinegars, and a killer sandwich shop. Many Dallasites may not know that De Lellis was making bar bites himself at Colette for several months. When I stopped in roughly a year ago, he served me chicken fingers, caviar-topped potato chips, and sliders with a tomato confit he spent two hours making (yes, they were really good). “I love to have a good cocktail with poutine,” he says, reminiscing about eating Irish nachos in Vegas. We all make weird food decisions when we drink, clearly.
After a drink, De Lellis is ready to spill some secrets. “I want to tell you something in confidence,” he says with a glint in his eye after we get into a discussion about the irrepressible popularity of the espresso martini. “For a few months they were short staffed at Colette, and I was in the back, shaking espresso martinis,” he says, laughing. “I had so much fun doing it, but I don’t know those guys do. My arms were so sore. They sell so many, you can never take them off the menu.” We agree that a real espresso martini must be made with actual espresso, not coffee liqueur or cold brew.
If you see De Lellis out and about, checking out Dallas bars, he says his go-to drink order is a Negroni Sbagliato. Send one over and tell him your favorite barbecue or taco spot and what to order there. He’s well on his way to finding his standbys in Dallas, but a little extra help never hurts.