Mi Cocina Lakewood opens next door to the Lakewood Theater Wednesday, July 18, but M Crowd let us have a peek inside last week.
Artist Luis Sottil of Tampico, Tamaulipas Mexico, has created a mural featuring the birds and butterflies of White Rock Lake. Sottil, who developed a style called “naturalismo,” says he paints in the pigments of the natural environment. He admits, he was afraid he would struggle with inspiration when Mi Cocina hired him to paint a mural about Dallas. That is, until he discovered White Rock.
“The bird population of White Rock Lake is amazingly vibrant and abundant,” he says.
Seventeen paintings connect to make the mural, titled “A Song of Life,” and almost all of them also include a tiny blue hummingbird, a native of Tampico.
“I wanted to bring the birds of White Rock Lake, but also bring a visitor from my home environment,” he says. “Because isn’t that what Mi Cocina does? It’s a taste of Mexico and a taste of the local environment.”
Other features of Mi Cocina Lakewood include a new staircase with iron railings and an upstairs cocktail bar. The patio will feature two hidden air conditioning units to blow cool air, circulated by two huge fans.
