Up to Date With Uptown

The definitive list of Uptown Dallas' newest hot spots

If it seems like every time you visit Uptown there's a new restaurant, boutique, or workout studio to check out, you're not wrong. The hip Dallas neighborhood has seen a surge of businesses opening recently, with some of the hottest names in dining, fashion, fitness, and hospitality moving in.

Finding it hard to keep up? Here's a list of what's new and now.

PL8 Bistro & Gallery
Holding court on the corner of McKinney and Routh is this hybrid concept of eatery and art gallery. PL8's bright, inviting ambience and eclectic menu, developed in collaboration with esteemed celebrity chef Alfio Longo, are enhanced by colorful paintings, photographs, and art pieces created by local Dallas artists. The artwork changes seasonally, and each piece is available for purchase.

District Climb
Inspired by the training rituals of renowned athletes and celebrities, District Climb combines the VersaClimber with rhythmic beats in a multi-sensory studio, delivering unparalleled training that sculpts every part of your body to perfection. Many argue that it's the most effective way to get in shape, because you burn more fat in a shorter period of time while your joints enjoy zero unnecessary stress.

Class Studios
The newest addition to West Village's array of workout wonders boasts two different approaches to getting fit: a 45-minute spin class and high-intensity, low-impact circuit training taught by former athletes and military veterans that incorporates rowing machines, weights, and plyometrics.

Francesca's
The Texas-born boutique offers an eclectic mix of carefully curated clothing, bright baubles, bold accessories, and playful gifts that are as fun to give as they are to receive. New goodies arrive almost daily, so you can discover something special and amazing on every visit. The store also only carries a few of each item, meaning that everything you find is uniquely yours.

Hilton Canopy
Channeling the art and spirit of the neighborhood, with Uptown-inspired artwork and nods to Dallas' M-Line Trolley, this new Cityplace hotel is also pet-friendly. The 150 rooms are complemented by a restaurant and rooftop bar.

Velvet Taco
The Dallas taqueria chain is opening a new location at 3411 McKinney Ave. in late summer 2018, in the space that used to house Urban Taco. The inventive menu flirts with multi-regional and multi-cultural boundaries, with tacos such as Indian-style tikka chicken, Mediterranean vegetarian falafel, Japanese ahi poke, and Cuban pork. There's also brisket and flank steak, and a "Nashville-style" hot tofu along with a weekly chef-driven taco feature.

Circo
The same family behind Manhattan's famed Le Cirque are bringing its sister concept to Dallas. A modern, circus-themed dining room serves food that is just as exciting for the palate as it is for the eyes.

MidiCi
In West Village's South Alley, next to Cru Wine Bar and across from Mi Cocina, you'll find this Neopolitan pizza palace. The dough is made from only four ingredients — Italian "00" flour, water, salt, and yeast — and pizzas are baked for 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven that burns at close to 1,000 degrees. The menu features vegan-friendly selections, authentic Italian gelato, a signature Nutella calzone dessert, and happy hour with wine and beer.

San Martin Bakery
Dallas snagged the first location outside of Guatemala and El Salvador of this beloved eatery, which includes a Guatemalan coffee bar, a bakery, and light bites from the cafe menu. It's set to open soon, on the former site of the McKinney Avenue Contemporary.

The Gents Place
The men's grooming and lifestyle club covers everything from haircuts and shaves to shoe shines, manicures and pedicures, massages, and waxing. Founder Ben Davis wanted to make getting a haircut less like an errand and more like an enjoyable time-out from everyday life, complete with cigars, complimentary drinks, and the company of likeminded gentlemen.

Savor Patisserie
This bakery specializes in stunning French macarons, with unusual colors and highly creative flavors. Founder Kelli Watts starts with a perfect ratio of almond flour, egg whites, and sugar, then adds ample flavor to both the shells and the filling, giving the macarons a bold taste that doesn't leave you wondering which one you just ate.

Sixty Vines
Wine-lovers, rejoice: The popular Plano pizzeria opened its Uptown location in April, bringing with it an extensive list of wines on tap. The "wine country" cuisine celebrates seasonal produce, infused olive oils, sustainable seafood, locally raised beef and poultry, artisanal pizza, charcuterie, and rustic breads. Not only does it have a 1,150-square-foot patio, but there's another 1,400 square feet of seating in the outdoor greenhouse — which has a very cool retractable roof.

Barry’s Bootcamp
L.A.-based trainer-to-the-stars Barry Jay started his one-stop-shop for a better body in 1998, and this past December, Dallas finally became a part of his FitFam. The workout itself is designed for efficiency, carefully pairing opposing muscle groups to ensure your body has a balanced workout and proper time for recovery. The intervals and strength training combinations are proven to lean and tone your body.

Velvet Taco's creative flavors have arrived in Uptown.

Photo courtesy of Velvet Taco

Velvet Taco's creative flavors have arrived in Uptown.

Winter weather warning

Forecasters warn of 'potentially catastrophic' winter storm in Texas

Photo by Uliana Sova on Unsplash

This weekend could bring ice to Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond.

With many Americans still recovering from multiple blasts of snow and unrelenting freezing temperatures in the nation’s northern tier, a new storm is set to emerge this weekend that could coat roads, trees and power lines with devastating ice across a wide expanse of the South, including Texas.

The storm arriving late this week and into the weekend is shaping up to be a “widespread potentially catastrophic event from Texas to the Carolinas,” said Ryan Maue, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“I don’t know how people are going to deal with it,” he said.

Forecasters on Tuesday, January 20 warned that the ice could weigh down trees and power lines, triggering widespread outages.

“If you get a half of an inch of ice — or heaven forbid an inch of ice — that could be catastrophic,” said Keith Avery, CEO of the Newberry Electric Cooperative in South Carolina.

The National Weather Service warned of "great swaths of heavy snow, sleet, and treacherous freezing rain” starting Friday in much of the nation’s midsection and then shifting toward the East Coast through Sunday.

Temperatures will be slow to warm in many areas, meaning ice that forms on roads and sidewalks might stick around, forecasters say.

The exact timing of the approaching storm — and where it is headed — remained uncertain on Tuesday. Forecasters say it can be challenging to predict precisely which areas could see rain and which ones could be punished with ice.

Meteorologists at WFAA say it's too early for an exact forecast across Dallas-Fort Worth. But it's good to start being weather aware.

Here’s what to know:

Cold air clashing with rain to fuel a 'major winter storm’
An extremely cold arctic air mass is set to dive south from Canada, setting up a clash with the cold temperatures and rain that will be streaming eastward across the southern U.S.

“This is extreme, even for this being the peak of winter,” National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Jackson said of the cold temperatures.

When the cold air meets the rain, the likely result will be “a major winter storm with very impactful weather, with all the moisture coming up from the Gulf and encountering all this particularly cold air that’s spilling in,” Jackson said.

Texas could be a harbinger for other parts of the South
Some of the storm’s earliest impacts could be in Texas on Friday, as the arctic air mass slides south through much of the state, National Weather Service forecaster Sam Shamburger said in a briefing on the storm.

“At the same time, we’re expecting rain to move into much of the state,” Shamburger said.

Low temperatures could fall into the 20s or even the teens in parts of Texas by Saturday, with the potential for a wintery mix of weather in the northern part of the state.

Forecasters cautioned that significant uncertainty remains, particularly over how much ice or snow could fall across north and central Texas.

“It’s going to be a very difficult forecast,” Shamburger said.

An atmospheric river could set up across the Southern U.S.
An atmospheric river of moisture could be in place by the weekend, pulling precipitation across Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast and continuing across Georgia and the Carolinas, forecasters said.

“Global models are painting a concerning picture of what this weekend could look like, with an increasingly strong signal for ice storm potential across North Georgia and portions of central Georgia,” according to the National Weather Service's Atlanta office.

Highway and air travel could be tangled by the storm
Travel is a major concern, as Southern states have less equipment to remove snow and ice from roads, and extremely cold temperatures expected after the storm could prevent ice from melting for several days.

The storm is also expected to impact many of the nation’s major hub airports, including those in Dallas-Fort Worth; Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Polar air from Canada to keep northern states in a deep freeze
Unusually cold temperatures are already in place across much of the northern tier of the U.S., but the blast of arctic air expected later this week is “will be the coldest yet,” Jackson said.

“There’s a large sprawling vortex of low pressure centered over Hudson Bay,” Jackson said of the sea in northern Canada that’s connected to the Arctic Ocean. “And this is dominating the weather over all of North America.”

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