© Restaurant Beatrice, 2024
Bienvenue to All! Our mission is to deliver a dining experience that captures the joy unique to the culturally-rich foods of Louisiana and its approach to hospitality and community. Our restaurant is focused on respectfully advancing Cajun and Creole cuisine alongside environmental stewardship. Our chefs work with regionally-sourced ingredients, they practice whole animal utilization, and we minimize waste as much as possible, which is emblematic of Louisiana food history. As of October 2024, we are proud to be the first B-Corp Certified restaurant based in Texas and one of just six restaurants based in the US to meet global standards set by B Labs, which developed the leading movement for an "inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy".
We take pride in the range of gastronomic skills found within our kitchen team. We have specialists in whole animal butchery and seafood, from the land to the sea. Our restaurant is unique because our Chef team is unique. Like gumbo, the more cultures Louisiana cuisine absorbs, the better. With influences from France to West Africa to Germany to the Caribbean to Spain to Indigenous America to Vietnam, Cajun and Creole food is peerless. Our kitchen has the versatility to present menus that represent contemporary Louisiana cuisine.
MICHELLE CARPENTER
EXECUTIVE CHEF & OWNER
Beatrice is owned and operated by Michelle Carpenter, the Chef/Owner of Zen Sushi in the Bishop Arts. Born to a Cajun father and a Japanese mother, Michelle pays homage to her Cajun family traditions in her second concept rooted in Louisiana’s deep gumbo of cultures, cuisines, histories, and peoples. Named after her “Mammaw” or grandmother, Beatrice (pronounced bee-AT-russ), the menu at Restaurant Beatrice includes a sampling of contemporary classics in a setting that embraces Louisiana hospitality and the Oak Cliff spirit of inclusiveness. “Everyone knows that special feeling we get seeing the big blue highway sign as we cross the Texas border into swamp country: “Bienvenue en Louisiane.” Michelle states: “That welcoming embrace is unique to where I spent a large part of my childhood, and that’s the experience I want my customers to have. I dedicated my career to Tokyo-style sushi, and I’ve seen how sophisticated diners feel intimidated by Japanese cuisine. Refined or delicious foods shouldn’t include gatekeeping.” Her Mammaw was a consummate homesteader who gardened, preserved foods, raised animals, and lived a life centered around self-sufficiency and economy. Michelle grew up with slow-cooked gumbo on the stove and looked forward to fish frys and crawfish boils on the weekends with family and friends. Her Japanese mother’s meticulous treatment of ingredients for home cooked Japanese meals would later set her up for a career in sushi. After over 35 years of making and serving sushi–17+ of those years establishing roots in Oak Cliff at Zen Sushi as the only female-led and owned sushi restaurant in the region–Michelle fulfilled her lifelong dream of opening a second restaurant to honor the other part of her story. Her customers are able to travel on a culinary journey with her, from the streets of Japan to the wetlands of America, in the most diverse neighborhood in Dallas. Zen Sushi has been awarded over 15 “Best Sushi in Dallas” awards, while Restaurant Beatrice has earned acclaim on both the local and national scale. In 2024, Michelle was selected by Visit Dallas as one of eight trailblazing ambassadors of Dallas in their new tourism campaign. Michelle may be partial, but she is convinced the best cuisines in the world are Japanese and Cajun. Michelle lives with her family in Oak Cliff.
ROMONIA ISAAC, GENERAL MANAGER
Romonia comes to Restaurant Beatrice with over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry, having worked as a volume bartender and eventually moving into management. In her last role, she was the General Manager of the White Rock Cane Rosso, which was one of the highest grossing locations of the Dallas-based chain with a seating capacity of 300.
The Tatum, Texas native grew up harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables from the family garden and helping prepare organic produce with her family before big meals. These memories provided a strong foundation for how she appreciates the Beatrice approach to foods that privileges whole, natural, unprocessed foods.
A graduate of Stephen F. Austin University, Romonia has held a number different careers including a pre-school teacher and paralegal specializing in IP law. Romonia enjoys spending time with her friends and family at different restaurants around the city.
SELECTED PRESS + AWARDS
