Dallas-based Feels Like Home is the newly formed hospitality group behind sushi bar Namo and cocktail spot Bar Colette, which was nominated for a 2025 James Beard Award for Outstanding New Bar. The latest project from brothers Brandon and Henry Cohanim is the group’s most ambitious yet.
Mamani is a contemporary French restaurant that takes its name from the founders’ grandmother, an excellent cook who divided her time between Paris and the South of France and stoked her grandsons’ passions for great food and hospitality. It opened on September 2 in the Quad, a recently remade dining strip in Uptown.
The Cohanims are joined by executive chef and partner Christophe De Lellis. He spent 13 years at Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, including nine as executive chef, before making the move to Dallas.
Mamani wants to set itself apart from what’s currently available in the city.
“In terms of French restaurants, most of what we’ve seen here in Dallas has been bistros, and Mamani is definitely not a bistro,” said Henry Cohanim. Instead, they’re focused on what’s referred to in France as “bistronomie.”
Maine Lobster is served with sauce au poivre and pommes frites
Cohanim explains the concept as taking bistro-type dishes and reinterpreting them with sophisticated techniques and premium seasonal ingredients.
“And Mamani’s setting doesn’t feel anything like a bistro,” Cohanim added. “While the restaurant is very comfortable and welcoming, the dining rooms are meant to feel more elegant, and the hospitality pays greater attention to detail.”
The 5,200-square-foot restaurant was designed by London-based Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, known for Claridge’s in London and the recently opened Westmoreland, the cafe within the Frick Collection in New York City. Mamani seats 65 across its two pastel dining rooms, plus 10 more in the lounge. There’s also a 34-seat air-conditioned garden terrace and a 10-person private dining room.
The opening menu combines Parisian classics with inspiration pulled from the French and Italian Rivieras. Sample dishes include croquettes with Benton country ham and Manchego cheese, vitello tonnato with mustard seed and capers, and Maine Lobster with sauce au poivre and pommes frites.
Before joining Mamani, Christophe De Lellis had a nine-year run as executive chef of Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas.
A section of pastas includes cavatelli with pork sausage and broccoli rabe, and penne arrabbiata, a Cohanim family favorite.
There are four larger-format dishes: veal cordon bleu, Dover sole, a 22-ounce rib eye, and a whole duck.
“I just want to cook food that I want to eat,” De Lellis said. “Simple dishes that dazzle.”
Mamani’s food is complemented by wine director Allie Naught’s wine list, which features French labels, including a deep selection of white Burgundies, and also pulls from other regions. Bar director Rubén Rolón, who also oversees Bar Colette, created a cocktail menu that skews Italian and spotlights Negronis.
The Feels Like Home team is currently focused on Mamani, but they have another concept in the works next door. The Bread Club is slated to open this winter and will offer a consumer-facing bakery in addition to acting as a commissary for Mamani, with breads and possibly desserts made on site.
As for what’s next after the Bread Club: “Once that’s achieved, we’ll see,” said Cohanim.
