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Anew restaurant is joining the downtown Dallas landscape from the owners of high-profile restaurants such as Oak and Pakpao.

Called Hawthorn, it will open in the lobby of the AT&T Whitacre Tower, as part of a large development by AT&T in the Central Business District.

AT&T, whose corporate headquarters already represent a major presence in downtown Dallas, is adding a new district with restaurants, retail, water features, and a park with free wifi.

Called AT&T Discovery District, it’ll adjoin AT&T’s downtown campus, with a goal to create a place where employees, locals, and tourists can spend time.

According to a release, the company has signed an agreement with Dallas restaurateur Richard Ellman, who will own and operate Hawthorn, which will be the first of several restaurants planned for the AT&T Discovery District. Ellman’s Aphelia Group owns restaurants such as Oak Dallas, Pakpao, and El Bolero.

Details are still slim on what Hawthorn be, other than the fact that it is “a steak, seafood, and raw bar concept,” a spokesperson says.

In addition to Hawthorn, other dining concepts planned for the area include a beer garden. With Biergarten at the Omni Dallas Hotel, that will make two beer gardens almost within toasting reach.

“We’re looking to inject additional growth, commerce and entertainment into downtown Dallas,” says AT&T VP Mike Peterson. “This investment will result in an urban green space that gives people a place to recharge and reconnect. And we couldn’t have done it without the help of the City of Dallas, DART, Downtown Dallas Inc., and local businesses.”

Work on the district has already begun on Commerce Street between Field and Browder streets. Once construction is complete, the downtown campus will be more walkable, bike-able, and well-lit.

With convenience and environmental sustainability in mind, the AT&T Discovery District will also include features like public wifi, on-site recycling, and smart irrigation.

A planned designated drop-off lane will provide a safe place to get in and out of vehicles. Prominent lighting features will showcase work in the area.

The company already installed exterior lighting to kick off the project in December. There are now more than 100,000 LED bulbs lighting their building every night, which they can transform into colors and designs for holidays and special events.

The district will be a mix of cutting-edge technology and green space, including a 425-foot-long water feature ringing the plaza and over 3,500 square feet of open green space.

A stage will feature area artists, including bands, singers, and events for kids. An AT&T Discovery Store will offer newest devices, with a multi-story video wall on the exterior to showcase the latest in AT&T entertainment.

Dallas’ restaurant scene is back at it with new spots opening just in time for 2021. For those who’ve been anywhere near the AT&T Discovery District lately, you’ve probably seen groups dining out on one of the recently opened restaurants’ heated outdoor patios, or families staring in awe at the massive screen showing Wonder Woman 1984 ads. It’s pretty incredible. Next weekend, the district’s flagship restaurant, Hawthorn, is finally ready to open its doors, along with a couple of other promising new restaurants in the city.

Here are the newest Dallas dining destinations to know.

The newest addition and flagship restaurant of downtown Dallas’ AT&T Discovery District, Hawthorn is an upscale spot that will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The new restaurant will have a raw bar, as well as full menu of seafood and steak. You’ll also be able to choose from starters like wagyu meatballs and shrimp gyoza, or opt for the sushi menu which includes a signature “Hawthorn Roll” with caviar, lobster, akaushi beef, and more. Hawthorn is currently taking reservations on OpenTable beginning on January 15.

Read the full article here: https://www.papercitymag.com/restaurants/thunderbird-pies-detroit-pizza-fort-worth/

DFW Restaurant Week has officially started, and even though its gamer tag includes “Week,” it actually lasts a month, through Sept. 5 this year. Hop on their website, find a restaurant that looks interesting, then make a reservation through Open Table. We’ve been pretty excited about this event because, well, we missed dining out a lot the past year and a half.

Also, one of the perks of DFW Restaurant Week is that fine dining is a bit more budget-friendly. Does that mean we have to iron our going-to-town pants? No, no need to drop starch into your Amazon cart; it’s not that fancy, as you’ll see in our play-by-play breakdown below.

Perhaps most important, DFW Restaurant Week is a huge annual fundraiser for the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope, a Tarrant County organization that focuses on the emotional, behavioral and intellectual well-being of children and teens. So, let’s eat!

A few of us visited several spots across town last week: Fachini, Billy Can Can, St. Martin’s Wine Bistro and Hawthorn. Photos and quick summaries follow. Kristina Rowe starts off at Fachini where she snagged a Monday night reservation pretty easily.

If you want to get into an in-demand restaurant for DFW Restaurant Week, try making a reservation for a Monday night. I’ve been wanting to try the 100-layer lasagna at Fachini, 33a Highland Park Village, since they opened, so I dined there on Monday evening and I was in for some pleasant surprises.

I arrived at 7 p.m. for my reservation for one and was seated promptly by the friendly and welcoming host staff. I was a little worried that I was underdressed, but many diners were dressed casually. Not flip-flops and shorts casual, but comfortable and stylish casual, which matches the vibe in the dining room. It’s all about comfort at Fachini, and the designer touches shout out to Rat Pack days without an ounce of kitsch. The soundtrack (and photos in the dining room) are oldies with the expected and familiar sprinkling of Frank Sinatra.

For DFW Restaurant Week, Fachini is serving a limited menu for $49 with six first-course options and eight main-course options. There’s an expansive wine list, two suggested wine flights to accompany the meals (at two different price points) and a very tempting summer cocktail menu, like the Mindy ($18) that has vodka, blackberry, pineapple, lemon and Champagne.

Before the meal begins, you’ll be served antipasti with bread, ricotta cheese, giardiniera and salumi, and your waiter will explain the best way to construct a mini muffaletta.

For the first course, a caesar salad was beautifully dressed and topped with fresh grated black pepper on request. It was no coincidence that “Dream Lover” was playing when my 50-layer lasagna arrived. This is a half portion of the 100-layer lasagna, and even at half-size, it’s a generous amount of feather-light layers of cheese, meat and ever-so-delicate pasta. Other mains include veal Parmesan, flounder piccata, shrimp fra diavolo, a vegetarian mushroom ragù and three other options.

Dessert was the hardest choice to make: carrot cake or tiramisu. I went with the tiramisu, and it was a sweet ending to an indulgent meal. I didn’t take home any dessert, but my lasagna and salad made a lovely lunch the next day.

In previous years, people have largely bemoaned that reservations are gone quickly during DFW Restaurant Week, but we didn’t have any problem snagging these. Actually, when making reservations through Open Table, there’s no difference between a DFW Restaurant Week reservation and any other type of reservation.

Billy Can Can in Victory Park, 2386 Victory Park Lane, was busy but not packed on Monday night. A birthday party at the bar kept things lively. For starters you’ll choose between deviled eggs, heirloom tomato salad, sausages (in photo) or a ceviche. We went with the sausages, which were surprisingly bright and flavorful; a healthy serving of pickled vegetables alongside the meat was a good balance.

For the second course, we went with Butcher’s Cut Steak Frites with a side of potatoes. Other options included salmon, a bone-in pork chop or street corn ravioli with blistered shishitos.

Get your house in order before you try the pureed Yukon gold potatoes with butter. They may kill you, but you’ll die happy. Our medium-rare 8-ounce steak was a little tough in spots but flavorful.

The hardest choice of the summer might have been choosing a dessert. There’s a banana pudding made with a Marker’s Mark caramel or a summertime cobbler with “sugar biscuits” and Texas peaches. We got the frozen chocolate PB&G (grapes, not jelly). Let that guy linger on your plate for a minute before diving in. It’s better just a wee bit soft.

Dallas’ dining scene isn’t immune to trend-chasing, but there are still stalwarts who refuse to change their stripes to fit what may be popular at the moment. St. Martin’s Wine Bistro, 3020 Greenville Ave., is one of those spots, and if the dimly lit dining room, ornate bar and live piano music don’t scream “romantic dinner,” then you might need your ears checked.

DFW Restaurant Week brings out the favorites at this 40-year-old Greenville Avenue standard. For starters, we had St. Martin’s legendary brie soup and a tasteful mixed green salad with a refreshing raspberry vinaigrette.

The salmon fillet topped with a Champagne dijonnaise sauce was well executed and the beef tenderloin tips in a Burgundy wine reduction on a bed of elegantly piped whipped potatoes are a classic choice. Traditional crème brûlée with a hint of citrus and a light but flavorful chocolate mousse wrapped our meal.

The three-course meal at St. Martin’s is $49 for DFW Restaurant Week, and diners have the option of adding wine pairings to each course for a reasonable $30 more.

We wanted to get a taste of a DFW Restaurant Week’s lunch offerings, and since $20 is about standard for lunch these days, a fine-dining meal was a bonus.

Probably the most popular part of CultureMap’s Tastemaker Awards, our annual celebration of the best in Dallas food and drink, is the category of Best New Restaurant.

This category is different from the rest of our editorial series, where we spotlight nominees in categories such as best bars, best neighborhood restaurants, best rising star chefs, and best ghost kitchens. Those are determined by a panel of judges consisting of former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and local F&B experts.

But the Best New Restaurant is the only category decided by you, via a bracket-style competition where 16 new restaurants go head to head.

You can vote once a day for your favorite. The voting goes four rounds, culling down to two finalists.

Who will win? Find out at the Tastemaker Awards party on August 19 at Fashion Industry Gallery, where we’ll dine on bites from nominated restaurants while emcee CJ Starr reveals the winners. Buy tickets here.

The list of 16 nominees is described below. These are the brave restaurants who opened during what had to be one of the most challenging times to ever open a restaurant.

To vote, click here. Don’t delay: The first bracket ends on Monday, August 2. Start clicking!

Ame
French-Indian concept in the former Hattie’s space is from mother-daughter duo Afifa and Sabrina Nayeb (Laili, 8 Cloves). The food is upscale Indian with French techniques such as Aloo Tikki with purple potato, goat cheese, and pepita seeds; Beet Samosa with walnuts, ginger, serrano, potato, yellow beet, and peas; and Masala Baked Eggplant with pine nuts and turmeric bechamel. A companion cocktail lounge called Elephant Bar boasts a big selection of champagne.

Anju
Spot in Uptown Dallas provides an Asian and American dining and drinking experience. The menu features food from China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan — noodle bowls, cheesy fries, and a kimchi of the day — while the cocktail program offers a choice between Korean or American mixology. One key feature is the patio, an award-winning stunner with a tree sprouting in the middle. They also host a variety of fun entertainments including karaoke and standup comedy.

Belse Vegan
State-of-the-art vegan dining at this plant-based restaurant in downtown Dallas comes with celebrity aura: It’s a spinoff of Little Pine, founded in Los Angeles by electronic musician Moby (who is no longer involved, but still fun to name-drop). There’s something refreshing about the matter-of-fact approach they take, with dishes such as a flight of ketchups served with French fries that make it feel like a restaurant that just happens to be vegan.

Elm & Good
Modern American tavern in the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, in the landmark Knights of Pythias temple in Deep Ellum. The menu changes frequently but might include a board such as the one with Raclette cheese, Genoa salami, pickled cauliflower, and fingerling potatoes. Weekend brunch every Sunday from 10 am-3 pm is a highlight, with shrimp & grits, smoked brisket hash, and a French-style omelet with parmesan, chives, Yukon gold hash browns, and arugula.

Encina
Seasonal restaurant in the old Bolsa space in Oak Cliff is from chef Matt Balke and front-of-the-house partner Corey McCombs. They’re putting out an uncomplicated yet adventurous menu with influences from Texas, California, and the South, with a focus on seasonality and fresh ingredients. A typical entree might be the lamb and pork bratwurst with green chili hominy grits and apple mustard, or The Cliff Flatbread with goat cheese, provolone, confit tomatoes, and arugula.

Hawthorn
Upscale restaurant in AT&T’s Discovery District in downtown Dallas is from Apheleia Restaurant Group (Oak Dallas, Merchant House) and combines fine dining with an elegant clubby atmosphere. Open for lunch and dinner, it’s definitely there if you want an ambitious meal, with caviar, Wagyu beef, and Prime steaks from Allen Bros., plus a long and glorious wine list. There’s also a separate full menu of sushi, sashimi, and raw-bar specials such as oysters and poke.

Hai Di Lao Hot Pot
Chinese hot pot chain was founded in China in 1994 is expanding into the U.S., where it debuted in Los Angeles in 2013. You choose your soup base, different meats and veggies, and a huge sauce bar. The food is well regarded but it’s all the other stuff that makes this place such a trip: A robot delivers your order to the table playing music, and there’s an item on the menu called “dancing noodles,” wherein a “noodle dancer” makes hand-pulled noodles tableside.

Jaxon
Restaurant-beer garden features 34 beers on tap and modern/classic fare influenced by Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Design elements include a mixed media collage of movie stars and Texas celebs; antlers at the beer taps; cactus terrariums; and artwork from vintage bricks. In addition to a dining room seating 165, Jaxon has a 10,000 square-foot patio with views of AT&T Discovery District’s courtyard and 104-foot-tall, 6K-resolution media wall.

Krio
Cajun-Asian restaurant in the Bishop Arts District began as a pop-up before owners Dan Bui and Connie Cheng found this permanent location. Specialties include jambalaya eggrolls, with chicken jambalaya stuffed into an eggroll, and Cajun-esque baos, with pickled carrots, green onion, sriracha aioli, and choice of chicken, Andouille sausage, or shrimp. Their slogan sums it up: “Where the Far East meets the Deep South.”

Lucky’s Hot Chicken
Nashville-style spicy hot chicken from Vandelay Hospitality Group (East Hampton Sandwich Co., Hudson House, Drake’s Hollywood) does chicken tenders and wings, plus sides such as mac ‘n’ cheese, coleslaw, baked beans, collard greens, beer, and soft-serve. It debuted in a landmark mid-century building where Brinker International founder Norman Brinker opened his first concept, Brink’s; at least five more locations are on the way.

Manpuku
Chain of Japanese barbecue (yakiniku) restaurants from Tokyo opened its first restaurant in Texas in Dallas, on Greenville Ave. The yakiniku experience focuses on bites of raw protein and vegetables cooked tableside over small grills and eaten fresh and hot. In addition to a la carte items such as beef tongue, guests can order omakase-style for two or four and receive a selection of meats, plus sides, salads, and soft serve, for a fixed price of $40-$100 per person.

Marugame Udon
Chic udon noodle concept from Tokyo first came to the U.S. with a flagship store in Waikiki, Hawaii, before expanding to California, then Texas. It serves Sanuki-style noodles — a thicker noodle, uniquely chewy yet tender, whether in soup or topped with sauce. In addition to noodle bowls, there’s tempura, Japanese street food, robata-style char-grilled skewers, and sandwiches such as Spam and cheese on lightly toasted Japanese milk bread.

Meridian
Modern Brazilian cuisine from chef Junior Borges is the fine-dining spot that’s part of an entire slate of restaurants rolled out at The Village, the massive residential apartment community in the middle of Dallas, which executed a mixed-use lifestyle project with food and entertainment in early 2021. The restaurant features Brazilian-inspired dishes, with snacks, cocktails, salads, brioche, or a family-style feast from a live-fire hearth.

Monarch
Downtown restaurant is located at The National, a residences-plus-hotel in downtown Dallas, is another newcomer to Dallas that vows to change the local Italian scene, via dishes like a $55 lasagna and a $12 side of charred asparagus. Its skytop perch affords amazing views, making it the latest special-occasion choice. It comes from gregarious Chicago chef Danny Grant, who has his sights set on Dallas with other openings in the works.

Rise & Thyme
Charming seasonal American cafe in the AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas is from celebrity chef Amanda Freitag, a Food Network regular who has battled Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America, competed for the title of America’s Next Iron Chef, and serves as a judge on Chopped. It’s a practical and accommodating place, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with salads, sandwiches, pastas, and patty melts.

Wok Star Chinese
Modern-but-authentic take on Chinese food from David Romano is now open at The Hill, at US-75 and Walnut Hill Lane, with some hyper-authentic dishes — including the hugely popular xio long bao, aka soup dumplings, as well as hand-pulled noodles and two kinds of buns, veggie and pork pan-fried. They also do the “Chinese” Americans grew up with, such as General Tso’s chicken, kung pao chicken, and beef & broccoli.

View original post here: https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/07-29-21-tastemaker-awards-best-new-restaurants-bracket/