"After nearly three years at Meridian, Chef Junior Borges is no longer with The Village. We thank Junior for his contributions to Meridian and The Village and wish him well in his future endeavors."
Thanks to Borges, Meridian introduced Dallas to the bold Brazilian flavors of his homeland and racked up plenty of recognition along the way. After stints at Uchi, FT33 and The Joule, Borges opened Meridian in 2021 and turned our expectations of Brazilian food on its head. The Observer added Meridian to our Top 100 Restaurants list in 2022, and last year, the James Beard Foundation recognized Borge's brilliance by naming him a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2023.
In June 2022, Meridian was listed as one of the 10 Best New Restaurants in America by the prestigious Robb Report, coming in at No. 5 overall.
The menu at Meridian reflects chef Junior Borges' culinary history, from childhood through his career in Dallas.
Alison McLean
According to The Village's press release, chef Nick Walker assumes the lead of Meridian's culinary team. The press release is somewhat light on details for the future of Meridian, with Walker giving a nod to his predecessor.
“It has been an honor to have had the opportunity to work alongside a talented chef like Chef Borges," Walker says in the release. "As I continue to take on the day-to-day operations of the culinary team at The Village, I am looking forward to further immersing myself in and supporting Meridian in an effort to continue our vision.”
We reached out to Borges after hearing the news, and he told us he's still grateful for the opportunities he had at Meridian.
"They're kind of reimagining the development, closing some restaurants, and reopening them," Borges told the Observer. "But at the end of the day, I'm super thankful for the opportunity. I got to do cuisine that's important to me, so different and diverse."
La Mina, another Village property near Meridian that was an upscale from-scratch Mexican restaurant, has recently been retooled. Social media pages for the spot now portray it as more of a club with DJs and disco balls.
With the decision coming so quickly, Borges said he'll take some time to decide on his next steps. He said he enjoyed the creativity that comes with overseeing large-scale developments and restaurants and would enjoy the possibility of being more involved from an ownership perspective for a future venture.
"With Meridian, when you don't own it, then the final decision isn't mine," Borges said of his departure. "I'll take some time to process. Just look to the future and look to the right opportunity, the right partnership, the right places, and try to do what I've always done, which is doing the right thing."
Borges is the latest chef to leave The Village team. As we wrapped up our review of Anise in February, we learned that chef Rene De Leon had left Anise, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Borges appointed chef Tony Ibarra to take over as Anise’s new executive chef earlier this year.
Meridian, 5650 Village Glen Drive.Tuesday – Sunday, 5–10 p.m.; closed Monday.
