A much-anticipated Spanish tapas restaurant opens with motherly love in Raleigh
The newest restaurant in Raleigh’s Smoky Hollow development is dedicated to the mothers and the kind of motherly warmth baked into the meals we cherish from childhood.
Madre, a new Spanish tapas restaurant in Raleigh, opens this week in the popular Peace Street development. Named for the Spanish word for mother, co-owner Tyler Helikson, who founded fast casual healthy food brand Happy + Hale, said Madre was inspired by the kind of small plate experience found in the Mediterranean.
“Madre pays tribute not only to our moms but as a nod to motherly hospitality, the kind of unconditional love that’s built into a meal,” Helikson said.
The Madre menu
The menu includes classic Spanish snacks like pan con tomate, jamon and cheese, and grilled olives.
“A love of Spanish tapas was the impetus for Madre, but we’re not going to limit the menu to just Spanish tapas, we’ll touch on all areas of the Mediterranean,” Helikson said. “The heart of the menu is small plates for sharing.”
For the smaller dishes Helikson said the grilled octopus has been a standout in early menu testing, a single tentacle charred on the outside and tender on the inside, with warm grilled olives and saffron aioli. There’s also a salmon crudo and a Calabrian chili chicken thigh lollipop.
The large plates include a beef cheek with goat cheese and a saffron risotto.
“The octopus is really a special dish,” Helikson said.
Helikson said he grew up as something of a restaurant kid in Charlotte around prepared food kitchens operated by his family. As it often does, it led Helikson to restaurants himself.
“My mom operated restaurants as I was growing up; I learned everything about hospitality from her,” Helikson said. “As any kid growing up around restaurants, it rubbed off on me.”
A large space at Smoky Hollow
Madre opens as part of a new wave of large restaurants, with about 5,500 square feet of dining room and kitchen space.
Helikson said the team behind Madre didn’t necessarily set out to build a large restaurant, but that a space was available facing into the new Smoky Hollow development that he felt could be part of a new kind of community in Raleigh.
“Ultimately it wasn’t the size for us, necessarily, but the opportunity. This was a spot where a community would be built and fostered,” Helikson said. “It also happened to be where I live and I had a desire for a restaurant like Madre. There’s a desire to go out again, people want to go out for an experience. There’s a return to experiential dining.”
Helikson said in Madre he aimed to reflect the ambitions he saw in the local Raleigh dining scene, which he sees as on par with any other major foodie destination.
“Raleigh is a world class city and we believe it can offer world class dining experiences,” Helikson said.
Smoky Hollow is now nearly fully open, with Midwood Smokehouse, New Anthem Beer, Milk Lab and now Madre among the restaurant options. A Raleigh location of the legendary Crunkleton is slated to open later this year.
Madre, at 518 518 N. West Street in Raleigh, opens Thursday, July 29.
