La Reunion Opens in Bishop Arts With the Holy Grail of Espresso Machines | Eater Dallas

"A new day-to-night café in the Bishop Arts District that opened on November 1, offering a serious coffee program centered on a first-in-Texas Modbar AV espresso system and on-site roasting from a custom roaster stationed just inside the front door. Mornings (8 a.m.–noon) feature French toast “flights” on sourdough baguettes with whipped goat cheese and seasonal jams, a croque madame, and a breakfast tart topped with parsley pesto, heirloom tomatoes, and gruyère; at noon the menu flips to pressed chicken sandwiches, charcuterie, and red-wine-poached pear dessert available through evening service (generally until 10 p.m. or later). The operation is led by owner Mike Mettendorf, with Ali Abderrahman—Texas’s highest-placing barista in the 2019 U.S. Barista Championship—overseeing coffee and executive chef Matt Smith producing house-made accoutrements (pickles, rillettes, mayonnaise) and curing his own pork belly for bacon that appears in an avocado breakfast sandwich with za’atar and alongside mussels in the afternoon. Beverage offerings include a wine list curated by sommelier Ian Montgomery that focuses on small producers (about 40 labels to start, with plans to grow), plus cocktail riffs such as a lavender-syrup French 75 and a pecan-bourbon Old Fashioned spiked with Kyoto cold brew." - Tierney Plumb