Inside Story: Chef Jeff Harris to Take Over Bolsa, Open Bolsa Mercado

<strong>Former Craft/Dallas chef Jeff Harris and former York Street sous chef Matt Balke are on the move…again.

After a short stint at RedFork, the pair has rocketed off to Oak Cliff darling Bolsa, where Harris and Balke just announced that they will launch a new venture in November with Bolsa owners Chris Zielke and Chris Jeffers to be called Bolsa Mercado. The Plan B design group, which also designed the interiors of Bolsa, Smoke, Whiskey Cake and Velvet Taco, among others, will refurbish the old Kemp Garage two doors down from Bolsa into the local-seasonal-fresh Bolsa Marcado.

“This project came together in the last week or so, right after Graham (Dodds) left Bolsa,” Jeff Harris told me this morning. “Chris Zielke and Chris Jeffers (who own Bolsa and Smoke) and I became friends through 48Nights (the pop-up restaurant that operated with a different chef each week for 48 nights) and we’ve kept in touch since then. They came to me with this market concept, and then, once Graham left, the job grew to include Bolsa.

“It’s called Bolsa Mercado, and it will be a chef-driven concept that will serve fresh-cooked breakfast and lunch, with prepared foods for dinner take-out. We’ll do big Mason jars of house made pickles, sauces and condiments, fresh donuts, kolaches, pastries, juices, specialty coffees, produce, sandwiches, salads, soups. We’ll have a little butcher shop with nice meats and cheeses and my charcuterie. We want to do chef-driven, really tasty food that’s consistent with Bolsa’s philosophy of fresh and local. I don’t live in Oak Cliff–yet–but that’s what the people who live nearby really want. This area is really booming for foodies.

“Jake Bepew will stay on at Bolsa, taking over the chef de cuisine job. Matt Balke will be the chef de cuisine at Bolsa Marcado, and I’ll be the executive chef of both places. We’re shooting for a mid November opening.”

No changes are planned for the menu at Bolsa until the Mercado is operating smoothly, says Harris, but he expects to “tweak” the concept in a few months.

Julian Barsotta (Nonna) and Nick Badovinus (Neighborhood Services) have similar concepts planned for other areas of Dallas.

photo/winnmeats.com