Who We are
HESHIMA (he-shi-ma)
Origin: Swahili
Noun: Respect. Honor. Dignity. Community
The concept of being a good host seems to be a dying breed. How many times have you gone to someone's house for dinner, and it felt like little thought went into the food, drinks, and conversation? Or how about going to a restaurant, and you only end up leaving with a hefty check and a un-memorable experience. At HESHIMA, we invite you into an intimate and exclusive dining experience. For us, it isn't just about the food and environment, it's also about community and learning something new, in order to bring back to your own home to showcase to friends. Or to connect with other people that get just as nerdy about the process of making whiskey, or how the cuisines you grew up aren't anything close to the how they are in their respective countries.
HESHIMA is an exclusive chef driven & community based pop up restaurant in the DFW area. Our prix fixe menu is chef driven, and always rotating to different cuisines and styles, while maintaining fusion inspired by local Texas heritage. We always use locally sourced & fresh ingredients in order to maintain quality control & create rich foods.
We want you to not be rushed in this dining experience, and the atmosphere stay intimate. In essence, we want to host you. We want you to have the ability to interact with other tables around you, but also to enjoy a date night so that you can have those life conversations. At HESHIMA, this is what we hope for everyone that walks through that door for to keep our community values.
OUR VALUES
Hosting
We want every single person who walks thru the door to feel at home. We are inviting you as guests and part of our family into our house to experience conversation, food, cocktails, interactions with other people, and to leave the into the night full both from our chef driven dishes, but also from the love put into the experience.
Community
Our sitting is both family style & individual tables to encourage an atmosphere of community, but we ask that every stays respectful of each other around them.
While at a typical restaurant seating is all separate, we want to give an intimate dining experience for all patrons no matter the occasion. You never know who you will run into or become friends with, no matter the background.
educate
We want you to take this experience and use it as a learning tool to take back home and use when you're hosting your own friends and dinner parties.
At Heshima we explain and show why certain wines pair better with certain foods, how different flour can affect your fresh pasta, or why parsley is over looked as part of the dish and not just another decoration.
Our roots
Hi y'all, my name is Micah!
I’ve always been a creative soul. The need to create, and also to discover the method of the madness. Learning how things work behind the scenes as a musician, and in business has made life fun as hell, especially with my African background.
I grew up learning how to cook, but about 5 years ago I fell back in LOVE with it, and also discovered my love for bourbon. I got obsessed with how bourbon was made, how any little changes can affect the taste. At the same time, taking my culinary love and sharing it with friends and family when hosting. Countless times I would be asked: “what’s on the menu for tonight?”. Planning the menu along with the drink pairing would come from being inspired by anything or even just shopping at the local market and changing the menu mid shopping.
It created a sense of community that I feel has lacked especially when our culture is "too busy" to make a glorious homemade meal, or have the knowledge when hosting friends and family. It also opened the door for me to show other people how food & drink are not as complicated and scary to create on your own. That even someone who feels they can't cook or understand what a good bourbon can be. Sometimes it's just a simple as someone showing you the ropes, and using it as a tool to create community around you.
I wanted to bring back the art of hosting and the process that goes into it, and share it with others to bring back to their own home. To teach others about menu pairing, why going the extra mile is worth the smile on your face when you taste that glorious non-processed flavor. To also use it as tool to connect with other foodie & whiskey lovers who are just as nerdy about the whole process as I am.
If you're willing to put the time and energy into food and people, I 100% believe it creates a better community, and makes you a better person and friend.
- Micah Labrosse