Mettle To Open On Calles Street With Former Olivia Chef

Olivia chef de cuisine Andrew Francisco is leaving the South Lamar upscale-rustic restaurant to open Mettle, the east side venture from Rainey Street ruler Bridget Dunlap. Olivia's founding chef James Holmes, who'll move back over to his original spot now that Lucy's Fried Chicken has hit its stride, gives his former employee a very nice verbal letter of recommendation. Via CultureMap:

Andrew Francisco is going to start Mettle over on the East Side, which will be the first time he's ever opened a restaurant, so it's really great. We're good friends and have had a really good run over the past three years. When I was opening Lucy's, he was mainly running Olivia and I could trust him to do a good job. But Lucy's is up and running and I've got a good crew over there to run the kitchen and I'm excited to get back in the kitchen and be back at Olivia.

The great thing about having a seasoned and experience chef like Andrew is that you don't have to worry about food costs or creativity because you're thinking along the same lines.

· James Holmes Brings His Haute Flair Back To Olivia [CultureMap]
· Mettle [Facebook]
· All Mettle Coverage on Eater Austin [-EATX-]

The future home of Mettle. [Photo: Andrea Grimes/EATX/Mettle Facebook/Google Maps]