Hart’s Mesa owner returns to cooking as executive chef at La Mariposa in west Olympia

December brings glad tidings to those who’ve been missing Hart’s Mesa and its mouth-watering chipotle benedict.

Joel Hart is back on the food scene, serving as executive chef at La Mariposa, which is taking over Don Juan’s Mexican Kitchen & Cantina on Harrison Avenue in west Olympia.

The sign still says Don Juan’s, in fact, but the Hart’s Mesa logo — a Dia de Los Muertos-style skull decorated with vegetables, fruits and flowers — is on the wall, and on Sunday, Dec. 1, Hart is rolling out new locally sourced menus for brunch, lunch and dinner.

He’s brought back the beloved benedict, made with masa cakes, chipotle hollandaise and carnitas. As always, it’s gluten free, and this time around, he’s offering a vegan version made with jackfruit instead of the pork.

Though the name and menu are changing, the restaurant isn’t changing ownership and has retained the same staff.

Hart is working for Fritz Byerly and Dave Hygard, who’ve owned the restaurant since it opened in 2016. It began as a second location of the Don Juan’s in Tenino but has operated independently since January 2018.

Byerly and Hygard, who started out as investors rather than restaurateurs, have been managing operations since then.

A few months ago, they turned to Hart, who’d been working in a warehouse since Hart’s Mesa closed June 1. “I had written off doing restaurant work for the foreseeable future in order to recalibrate,” Hart told The Olympian.

But food has long been his passion. In 2002, when he was a 21-year-old musician, Hart was touring in Spain and wound up apprenticing in a restaurant there. Since then, he’s never stayed away from food for long. Before Hart’s Mesa, he ran Page Street Café, and before that, Dino’s Coffee Co.

The opportunity to put his stamp on a large and well-equipped restaurant was irresistible, he said.

The new menus — online at facebook.com/hartsmesa/ — have echoes of Hart’s Mesa but with a more upscale feeling and a larger selection of lunch and dinner options.

“I wanted to create a menu that reflected the ambience of this environment,” he said in an interview at La Mariposa, now decorated with graphic posters instead of the sombreros of old.

The dessert menu will feature selections from Blue Heron Bakery, located next door, and produce will be locally sourced. There’s a full vegan menu, including soy chorizo, seitan and the aforementioned jackfruit. Meat eaters, meanwhile, have options ranging from shrimp and mussels to goat.

“There’s something for everybody,” Hart said. “All of the sauces are going to be prepared without animal products, so they can be used in both meat and vegan dishes.”

Future plans include a cocktail menu and later hours. “We want to make use of our beautiful bar,” he said.

Though he was keeping the details of the venture under wraps last week, Hart had posted hints about his return on Facebook, where the news that he would once again be cooking for the public was greeted with glee.

His first announcement, on Nov. 15, was greeted with 234 “likes” and “loves” and 61 comments — including one from Melanie Magninat of Olympia, who proclaimed it “an early Christmas miracle.”

La Mariposa Bistro & Cantina

• What: Joel Hart, well known among Olympia foodies as the owner of Hart’s Mesa, is back on the food scene — as executive chef of La Mariposa, formerly known as the west Olympia Don Juan’s.
• When: 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays- Sundays and 2:30-9 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, though Hart notes that hours will be changing. Brunch is available only on Saturday and Sunday and lunch only on Thursday and Friday. There’ll be a happy hour with a limited menu from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily, and dinner begins at 4:30 p.m.
• Where: 4419 Harrison Ave. NW, #105, Olympia
• More information: 360-688-1497, facebook.com/hartsmesa/