Powerhouse restaurateur Julian Rodarte debuts Lexy’s, the first of five new restaurants he has planned for Trinity Groves

Julian Rodarte is C.E.O. of Trinity Groves

Chef and restaurateur Julian Rodarte runs the successful Beto and Son modern Tex-Mex spot that has long anchored the Trinity Groves development (we love that spot – and called it one of DFW’s best in this USA Today story).

Now he’s set his sights on building five more restaurants there, a task made easy by his promotion to C.E.O. of the strip center and adjacent Art Park.

The first of the bunch, named Lexy’s (after Rodarte’s wife, Alexa), has quietly opened on the westernmost edge, with Aubrey Murphy executing the New American menu.

Pink Champagne sets the tone of the broad space – it’s the tint of the long swoop of roses in the entry, the soft hue of the banquets, and the contents of the chilled bottles in the dedicated Moet vending machine.

Murphy takes his menu cues from Alexa, who favors mixing things up: tuna tartare with avocado, ponzu and green apples; burgers with truffles; salads with greens sourced from Profound Farms in Lucas; and a couple of A Bar N steaks from Celina.

Not too shabby for a once-trendy collection of restaurant spaces better known for a shuttered hookah lounge and a restaurant devoted to avocados.