Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1366498
playful take on dolma (stuffed grape leaves), where hoja santa leaves wrap and roll up enoki mushrooms with barberries, as well as a crisp pressed potato "chip" inspired by a North African fritter called maaqouda, topped with a luxe dollop of Kaluga caviar. As dinnertime approaches, your party is coaxed into the main dining room — a hushed, blush-pink space where a commissioned artwork hangs: a magnificent fiber piece by Alexandra Kehayoglou that evokes the verdant Mediterranean and Texas agrarian landscapes. Other artworks are by Texas artist Matt Kleberg, German artist Christoph Ruckhäberle, and Oliver Jeffers. The tables — crafted by the chef's industrial-designer wife, Hayley Riccio — are cloaked tightly with linen, much like a fitted sheet. Genius. With a service-staff-to-guest Above: On the shelves, art and culture from Forty Five Ten and pottery by Carrie White and Matthew Gilley. Painting from Sputnik Modern. Custom ottoman. Right: Paper wall sculpture by Derrick Velasquez, Denver. Vintage travertine table from 1stdibs. Center: In the lounge, a work by artist Christoph Ruckhäberle and Faye Toogood Roly Poly seats. Right: The menu at March explores tension, richness, and diversity through food. Here, the caviar service. ratio of roughly two to one (guest occupancy is 40 maximum), the pace of the courses is judiciously timed. Watch the production unfold with a view into the open kitchen and anticipate your first course: farm legumes, on the six- course option we chose. A pale-pink bone china bowl contained bright spring peas and fava beans, poised on a dollop of goat cheese topped with smoked trout roe and flavored with lamb pancetta. We swooned when presented with an amberjack crudo course. Modeled after a Moroccan tile pattern, fine layers of amberjack, pickled rose, and chermoula lay beneath petals of cut apples and radishes dyed yellow with turmeric and pink with beet juice. Another memorable dish includes lamb consommé: a crystal-clear clarified stock spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice with tiny orbs of carrots and parsnips and kohlrabi blended with ghee with bite-size rounds of goat-filled bread dumplings. Each course can be paired with a glass of wine. In fact, GM/ beverage director Mark Sayre spent the better part of the pandemic culling together March's 11,000-bottle cellar to find just the right match. As dinner c u l m i n a t e s , i f space permits, you may retire to the lounge, where a sweet selection o f m i g n a r d i s e awaits, along with herbal tea. Menu m e m e n t o s o f your evening are presented, along with a tin of custom- blended chamomile tea featuring March herbs to take home. A p o s t - d i n n e r wine-cellar tour is also possible. Reservations can be made 60 days in advance. Open Wednesday through Saturday. March, 1624 Westheimer, 8 3 2 . 3 8 0 . 2 4 8 1 , marchrestaurant. com. The cozy lounge with custom Murano-glass chandelier and a work by artist Matt Kleberg, represented by Hiram Butler Gallery, is designed to disarm guests prior to their dinner experience. 27