Photo courtesy of Peter Novotny.

The duo behind Deep Ellum’s Ruins and Armoury D.E. is working on a new venture in the Bishop Arts District.

Peter Novotny and Dan Murry are collaborating with Matt Battaglia, co-founder of the former Denton music festival Oaktopia, to bring the new French bar and restaurant Trapèze to life. 

“I know that we have the Bastille Day events there, and obviously, there’s a lot of other spots there. There’s La Reunion. There’s Revelers Hall. All these spots have French twists on it,” Novotny said. “So we’re just going really hard into the French. As hard as we can, especially the Bohemian side of it.”

Novotny said that the French ties to Oak Cliff aren’t the only inspiration for the concept. He has traveled to France a “bunch of times,” and business partner Battaglia also visits France often as the tour manager for musician Marc Rebillet.

Like the Deep Ellum concepts, Trapèze will have the live music aspect. The back patio will feature a stage, in addition to a smaller stage located inside.

For the menu items, Trapèze brought on New York chef Jeremy Spector, who owns and operates The Brindle Room and Mister Paradise. Additionally, he is an owner and former chef of Employees Only.

“He’s got a really huge following, especially in terms of the cocktail scene (with Employees Only),” Novotny said. “They were one of the first, big-time pioneer cocktail bars ever. So, his involvement in those two spots as an owner and chef, I think, is going to bring a lot to the table, and then obviously has been working at Balthazar. They serve some of the best French food there is.”

As they are early on in the menu curation process, Novotny added that they hope to open in April.

“We’re still kind of figuring out the actual menu items. A lot of them are going to be real traditional riffs on classics. Some of them will just be pure classics, regional classics, but like, there’s so much to choose from,” he said. “It’s not only just in France, all the different regions, and Parisian flavors, the Southern French flavors, but just all of the different areas that French culture has gone, and it kind of intertwined with other cultures. That’s something we really want to tap into … you get into Louisiana food, you get into some Caribbean-type foods. You got African influence, Asian influence. I mean, there’s a lot to go off of. We want to do it all.”

Trapèze will be located at 240 W. Eighth St.

Updated Feb. 9, 2026 at 12:47 pm.