Monica Greene Returns To Dallas For A Visit

Posted on April 28th, 2009 10:01am by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Foodie People, Restaurant News
Monica Greene is cool, calm, and collected.

Monica Greene is cool, calm, and collected.

Yesterday I grabbed a quick lunch with Monica Greene. She was in town to visit family, particularly her 2-year-old grandson, and to cast her early vote. She’s still living in Aspen and running a small vegetarian/vegan bistro on the top floor of the Explorer Bookstore & Bistro. The Aspen restaurant is closed for renovations so she’s taking it easy. Monica gets offers “all the time” to come back to Dallas and open a new restaurant. Right now she is content–after 16 years, Monica’s Aca y Alla is still doing fine.

Monica is deeply committed to healthy cooking and eating. I pressed her for future plans but she wouldn’t say much. All I got was this: she wants to come back at some point. She is thinking about doing an organic, healthy Mexican spot in the old Arcadia Movie Theater space on Greenville.  She promises if she does another restaurant, it will “have a name you can pronounce.” Monica also said she would like to be in the kitchen instead of the front of the house. “I’ve been cooking a lot lately,” she said. “I never had the confidence in my cooking to cook at Monica’s.”

Confidence? Monica Greene without confidence? That’s like hearing Superman say he is afraid of flying.

12 comments

  1. That lady dishes great hugs. Wish she’d come back.

    @ 10:06 am on April 28, 2009

  2. healthy Mexican in old Arcadia location? Me likey

    @ 10:08 am on April 28, 2009

  3. OH GOD, PLEASE COME BACK AND OPEN CIUDAD!!

    @ 10:19 am on April 28, 2009

  4. We were blessed to have someone as passionate about food as Monica, and I am thrilled she is on a “food pilgrimage” of sorts out in the mountains. But I will be ecstatic when she returns and treats us all to what she has learned.

    @ 11:26 am on April 28, 2009

  5. This town was better off when she lived here and will be far more fun again when she brings her entrepreneurial talents back. Thanks Moncia for all you’ve given us and please make your return engagement sooner than later.

    @ 2:05 pm on April 28, 2009

  6. Monica Greene walks on water in my mind and Aca y Alla is likewise hallowed ground. Because of La Greene, beginning in the early 1990s, I experienced 9 years and several hundred Sunday nights dancing in Deep Ellum. Salsa nights that made every care feel suspended in time and any future look possible. This woman rocks so hard, the Richter Scales are recalibrated when she is in any region.

    @ 2:19 pm on April 28, 2009

  7. Ciudad was a gem!

    @ 2:56 pm on April 29, 2009

  8. I miss Monica and Ciudad so much. We’ve been searching for the perfect brunch place ever since Ciudad closed. It’s not out there. Ciudad was it. And now that we never see her at Aca y Alla… it’s just kind of sad.

    @ 6:17 pm on April 29, 2009

  9. Does Monica still own Aca y Alla?

    @ 9:00 pm on April 29, 2009

  10. Monica Greene could open a dirty taco cart in a bad neighborhood and people would flock to see her. Lack of confidence? Never.

    I hope she enjoys her current time in Aspen and would look very forward to a triumphant return home to Dallas.

    Best wishes, Monica!

    @ 10:37 pm on April 29, 2009

  11. I miss Monica and Ciudad as well…please come back to Dallas! Wondering where the rest of the staff is? I can let you know where to find Leann, bartender extraordinaire..just rediscovered her at one of the loveliest restaurants in Dallas – Salum’s and she is still one heck of a mixologist. Paired with Abraham Salum’s and his fabulous food – wow, what a combo. Go say hi to Leann on Wednesday or Thursday happy hour and stay for dinner!

    @ 9:16 pm on April 30, 2009

  12. Before i get called out on it, sorry for the mistypes! I let my fingers do the flyin’…

    @ 9:19 pm on April 30, 2009