Chef News
D.C. celebrity chef chooses North Texas for Michelin-worthy restaurant
Frisco scores a major restaurant coup with a new place coming from an internationally renowned chef: José Andrés will open a second branch of Zaytinya, his eastern Mediterranean restaurant from Washington, D.C.
According to a release, Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup and the Turkey-based d.ream (Doğus Restaurant Entertainment and Management) have partnered to open a Zaytinya at The Star, the real estate development and Dallas Cowboys campus in Frisco.
This will be the first Michelin-rated chef to open a place at The Star. Zaytinya is known for its inventive Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese cuisine and has been a top dining destination in D.C. since 2002.
Andrés' accolades include earning two Michelin stars for Minibar by José Andrés, also in Washington, D.C. He's been named one of the "100 Most Influential People" by Time magazine and is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, educator, television personality, and humanitarian.
More recently, he's been involved in a lawsuit with Donald Trump. Andrés was supposed to open up a restaurant in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., but he backed out in July 2015 after Trump called undocumented Mexican immigrants "rapists" and "criminals." Trump retaliated by filing a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit.
Andrés recently tweeted Trump, asking for a settlement, saying, "Mr. @realDonaldTrump can we end our lawsuits and we donate $ to a Veterans NGO to celebrate? Why keep litigating? Let's both of us win."
The chef says he's thrilled to be opening a Zaytinya in Dallas, even though it's really Frisco. Hope he doesn't get lost when he comes to visit.
"The Star is an incredible campus, developed with amazing detail by the Jones family and will be a great fit for my mezze restaurant," he says. "And we are very excited to be doing this with d.ream, one of the most respected, fastest-growing hospitality forces in the world."
Zaytinya will be located in Building 6W of the development, at 6655 Winning Dr., and will feature a modern, authentically Mediterranean decor with seating for up to 250.
Andrés founded his ThinkFoodGroup with partner Rob Wilder. Their 27 restaurants include Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Fish at MGM National Harbor, J by José Andrés at W Mexico City, Bazaar Meat at the SLS Las Vegas and the Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills and South Beach, along with Bazaar Mar at SLS Brickell.
Their partner, d.ream (Doğuş Restaurant Entertainment and Management) launched in 2012 and owns a number of restaurants in Turkey and internationally.