Dallas boasts a vibrant culinary scene that blends bold Texas barbecue, authentic Tex-Mex, upscale steakhouses, and innovative fusion dishes. From smoky brisket to refined tasting menus, I discovered a good balance of Southern comfort traditions, modern sophistication, and diverse cultural influences throughout the city.
[Las Palmas Restaurant]
Up-and-coming chefs have established themselves in the USA’s fourth-largest metropolis. While here, I also learned that the frozen margarita machine was invented in Dallas by Chef Mariano Martinez.
Two Dallas restaurants (Tatsu Dallas, Mamani) were recently honoured with a Michelin star, while nearly two dozen dining spots are either Bib Gourmand or Michelin-Recommended. Four days is hardly enough time to scratch the surface of all the great dining spots, but I’ve included several that hit the mark for excellent dishes, service, and presentation.
Set atop the city’s GeO-Deck Reunion Tower, Crown Block is a Michelin-Recommended restaurant with fabulous views to go with seafood, sushi, Texas Wagyu, Japanese A5 Wagyu, and other prime beef offerings all beautifully created by Cordon Bleu-trained Executive Chef John Pineda.
Throughout the evening, we spot Head Pastry Chef Lizbeth Ramirez’s stunning creations, including a celebration firework with pumpkin-spiced creme brûlée donuts hidden inside a cloud of cotton candy!
[Society Party Cake]
Crown Block’s Elizabeth Blau is no stranger to the restaurant world. Her Vancouver establishments include Honey Salt, The Victor, and D/6 Bar & Lounge at Parq Casino. Blau was just shortlisted as a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur by the James Beard Foundation!
While you’re here, take Reunion Tower’s high-speed, glass-walled elevator to explore interactive exhibits surrounding Dallas’s history and culture, as you take in views from 470 feet high inside the GEO-Deck.
Opened just over two years ago, Via Triozzi is a delightful Italian eatery with an equally pretty interior. The deep green illuminated wall bar is filled with objects d’art on its shelves, with liquor and an espresso machine below. Illuminated tall mirrors with a lead design accents the row of seating with exposed brick on the opposite wall.
[Polpette at Via Triozzi]
The restaurant is named after a street in Scandicci, Italy — a beautiful town surrounded by olive groves in the outskirts of Florence. It is there that chef-owner Leigh Hutchinson lived when she fell in love with the country and its culture. Via Triozzi also pays tribute to Leigh’s Sicilian-American upbringing, when Sunday dinner at her grandma Nani Angie’s was an all-day affair. The classic Italian menu includes snacks, hand-pulled mozzarella, homemade pastas (made daily), salads, starters and entrées.
Pear and Gorgonzola ravioli]
Their pear/gorgonzola ravioli is light and flavourful, a perfect follow-up to a dish of Polpette topped with fresh Parmigiano reggiano. A full selection of cocktails, mocktails, wines and spirits round out the menu for an inviting place to enjoy home-cooked Italian cuisine made with love.
When visitors set their eyes upon Tony Tassett’s Eye, a 30-foot-tall fibreglass, resin, and steel sculpture, many don’t realize that it’s a replica of the artist’s own eye. Whether the eye relates to Big Brother or not is up to the viewer’s mind.
The optic work of art, was originally commissioned as part of the Chicago Loop Alliance’s Art Loop program, and made its debut back in 2010 in that city’s Pritzker Park before arriving three years later in Dallas.
If you’re headed to check out the Eye, stop in for lunch at Mirador right next door. Set inside the penthouse of Forty Five Ten, the stylish space is a mixture of tables and long opposing salmon-coloured banquettes in the middle.
Mirador’s small yet well-varied lunch menu starts with small plates, then continues to mains, salads, and sandwiches (Mirador burger, lobster roll, Wagyu with spicy mayo, grilled chicken).
[Ahi tuna cornette trio with wasabi tobiko, tamari glaze]
As with all Mirador pasta dishes, Orecchiette is made in-house and served with San Marzano tomatoes (cured with salt and sugar, later marinated with herbs for another 24 hours, then strained into either pasta sauce or tomato soup). The pasta is also a three-day labour of love to prepare.
[Orecchiette, San Marzano tomatoes, aged Parmesan, grilled chicken breast]
Over in the city’s Uptown district, Las Palmas, a lovely (and lively!) spot for Tex-Mex, serves up a variety of classic dishes within its retro-chic, low-lit interior. Their spice-forward menu offers a wide array of tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, and house specialities, in addition to a full agave, spirits, and cocktails list.
[Las Palmas Tex-Mex]
Michelin-recommended Sachet has a warm, low-lit, inviting interior that offers a seasonal Mediterranean menu. A central focal point of the room is a glass cube filled with wine racks.
[Roasted cauliflower with black chickpeas, hummus and almond gremolata]
[Brick chicken, whole wheat spanikorza, chickpeas, feta, Calabrian chicken jus]
Their menu is divided into shareable snacks, cold and warm mezze, handmade pasta, grilled features (steak, seafood, vegetarian). To complement the dishes is a wide selection of international wines, aperitifs, spirits and speciality cocktails/mocktails.
I was hosted by Visit Dallas for the purpose of this feature. Opinions, as always, remain my own. Non-watermarked images courtesy of Visit Dallas and Mirador.
