America’s avocado obsession is being served in new, innovative dishes in Dallas as Avocados From Mexico, in partnership with Trinity Groves, just opened the world’s first polished-casual restaurant focused entirely on avocados. Featuring 29 avocado dishes, 10 avocado cocktails and a full bar, AvoEatery aims to drive innovation on menus nationwide.

Avocados From Mexico supplies 84 percent of the U.S. avocado market, and the brand has employed increasingly creative marketing techniques to both drive and satisfy consumer demand. The new restaurant concept expands these efforts by serving as an avocado innovation incubator to test inventive avocado uses across the menu and use these learnings to validate consumer interest and share insights with restaurants coast-to-coast.

“With the opening of AvoEatery, we are moving beyond brand marketing to experiential marketing, where we will be able to inspire consumers with the versatility of this super-fruit while learning directly from those same consumers about what they crave,” says Alvaro Luque, CEO of Avocados From Mexico. “There’s so much more than guacamole – you could come into AvoEatery every day for almost a whole month and try a new avocado dish each time.”

The culinary driven menu provides traditional avocado lovers with new twists on their old favorites, while the more avo-venturous eater can try avocado dishes they have never seen. There is something for everyone:

To start, a guacamole flight offering mild, medium, hot, hummus and egg guacamole options, plus six other mouthwatering appetizers

A suite of six different avocado toasts from a colorful caprese toast with mozzarella, heirloom tomatos and a balsamic glaze to a Labneh toast for a truly Mediterranean experience

Salads and bowls that put the avocado front and center with global flavors, like the Asian avocado shrimp salad that combines blackened shrimp with pickled avocados, vermicelli noodles and more enclosed by a fan of sliced avocado for a dish that is as stunning to see as it is delightful to devour

Differentiated entrées, like the spaghetti squash and zoodles with a grilled avocado half center plate for a tasty vegetarian option that will please every palate and a New York strip steak with avocado herb butter, fries and an avocado chimichurri side for a fresh take on a hearty steak dinner

For dessert, an avo chocolate mousse served up in an avocado-shaped chocolate cup, a chocolate avocado brownie a la mode with vanilla avocado ice cream, and avocado popsicles for those hot Texas summers

Beyond the plate, AvoEatery’s creative culinary approach extends to its full bar, where 10 avocado cocktails push the boundaries of what is expected from this favorite fruit. From incorporating avocado chocolate bitters to avocado honey to even an avocado leaf tea-based elixir, these original cocktails use the entire avocado tree to create memorable drinks.

“When we created the menu, we wanted to surprise and delight people with the versatility of the fruit,” says David Spirito, senior director of culinary and foodservice at AFM. “We’re already hearing from our restaurant partners across the country that what we’re doing is going to influence their own menus, and that is really exciting. We want to inspire home cooks and restaurants nationwide to push the boundaries of how they’ve always used avocados.”

At AvoEatery, even the décor is avo-inspired with lighting encased in avocado harvesters and modern avocado artwork. The bright, upscale design gives guests a distinct experience that is perfect for special occasions or a weekday meal out with prices ranging from $6 for appetizers to $22 for entrées.

“This place is really unlike anything you’ve ever experienced,” continued Luque. “When people dine at AvoEatery, they’re becoming part of avocado innovation nationwide. As the first to try some of the most inventive dishes using avocados, our guests’ choices will help us become smarter marketers every day, as we learn first-hand about recipes, pricing, promotions, seasonality and consumer habits. AvoEatery is a place where you can come to have a simply amazing meal entirely focused on avocados and shape the future of avocado menu items with every bite.”

Avocados From Mexico partnered with Trinity Groves, which owns and operates the restaurant out of its mixed-use complex in Dallas, Texas. Trinity Groves is known for its Restaurant Concept Incubator program that encourages chefs and restaurateurs to create and present unique dining concepts to a team of experienced restaurateurs who will then support them to bring their ideas to reality. This is the first time they’ve taken ownership of a restaurant concept in this program, however.

“Trinity Groves has become a dining destination throughout the last five years and since the beginning, we have prided ourselves on providing variety and unique concepts to our diners,” adds Phil Romano, co-owner of Trinity Groves and creator of over 25 restaurant concepts, including Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Spageddies, Cozymel’s, Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ and Eatzi’s Market & Bakery. “We’re excited to keep bringing new, innovative restaurants to Trinity Groves and with this latest venture, AvoEatery, we’re able to bring to Dallas a restaurant people haven’t experienced before in this city, or even in the U.S.”

AvoEatery opened its doors softly on January 30 with dinner service. After sustaining a steady influx of seasoned avocado lovers and avo-venturous eaters, the restaurant will add a lunch service the day after Valentine’s Day to offer even more opportunities for people to love the menu.

To celebrate avocado lovers’ passion for the fruit and its Instagrammable beauty, Avocados From Mexico is launching their AvoArt Campaign, which showcases AvoEatery dishes as works of art. Concepted as an online museum of avocado art, AvoArt.com features 10 rotating dishes as a series of videos artfully displayed in real antique frames to reinforce the idea that they are exhibit-worthy. Using one of the few Bolt High-Speed Cinebots, which is a robotic arm that allows every camera movement to be under complete control, coupled with a 360-degree rotation above the dishes, AFM was able to capture multiple shots all using the same exact movement, speed and acceleration. The result is rich content ready to be shared via Facebook and Twitter.

Through the campaign, avocado fans will be invited to share the videos through the two platforms with the hashtags #AvoArt and #AvoEatery for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip for two to dine at AvoEatery. Kicking off the week of Valentine’s Day, the more users show their love for these works of AvoArt, the more entries they have in the sweepstakes. A total of five couples will win a trip to AvoEatery.

Industry News, NextGen Casual