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Brothers Pasha and Sina Heidari, who are behind Bowen House, Las Palmas, (the amazing) Mike’s Gemini Twin Lounge, St. Martin’s and Urbano Cafe, quietly opened a new concept in East Dallas on Halloween this year.
It’s a 26-seat cocktail bar called Sylvestro, and is inspired by the late ’80s and connects with Urbano Cafe next door.
For a long time, diners at Urbano were fiending for cocktails, but the restaurant didn’t have a liquor license, hence the BYOB policy. Now that Sylvestro is open, and the liquor license is in place, they can no longer do BYOB. Slyvestro will now be serving the drinks, and soon, Urbano will get a full refresh, including a new wine program, after the holidays.
Gears are shifting, but there’s plenty to be excited about for new and regular diners in the area.
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As for Sylvestro, the Heidari brothers wanted to create a bar that had the ’80s written all over it — art deco revival motifs are hinted throughout the space, there’s leather and chrome banquette seating and the menu pays homage to the nostalgia, but still keeps things modern.
You’ll recognize classics by name — cosmo, gimlet or espresso martini — but they’ll be created with some interesting ingredients. Joe Shirghio, who we’ve all loved behind the bar at Bowen House for years, is running the show at Sylvestro.
His most interesting creation for the menu is his Everything Espresso Martini, which is made with Japanese iichiko sochu, orgeat and is flavored with everything seasoning and a dash of soy sauce.
Peak ’80s energy will come alive with the Gioello, a neon green drink with a maraschino cherry frozen inside a single ice cube. It’s made with Midori, gin, dry vermouth and Centerbe, an Italian herbal liquor that gives it the neon green color.
More from the menu will be a prickly pear sage gimlet, apple brandy sour, bananas foster old fashioned and a light pink cosmo with notes of rose, yuzu, lemon and cranberry. Cocktail prices fall between $16-20.
From what we know now, there aren’t any non-alcoholic options on the menu, but the bar has plenty of non-alcoholic spirits stocked to make you something interesting.
For now, you can order food from Urbano Cafe’s menu next door, but within a month or so, Sylvestro will offer its own menu of bar food that will feature mostly antipasto-style dishes from Urbano.
Sylvestro is joining a cluster of greats in East Dallas where Bryan St.and N. Fitzhugh Ave. intersect: Jimmy’s Food Store, Saint Valentine and Dallasite Billiards.
Bar seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis for walk-ins. Diners coming to or from neighboring Urbano Cafe receive priority seating to enjoy a drink before or after dinner.
Sylvestro,1412 N. Fitzhugh Ave., Tuesday – Saturday, 5 p.m. – midnight; Monday, closed.
