Chef DAT is rolling in Deep Ellum, Cafe Momentum is changing lives through food and there are peppermint lattés going down in Uptown. Here's a healthy dose of Dallas restaurant news:
Media-savvy chef David Anthony Temple has opened Twenty Seven, his long-awaited restaurant in Deep Ellum, in the space on Elm Street that was previously occupied by My Private Chef. The name references the number of seats in the restaurant, which has all sorts of fascinating hoops. It will be open for dinner only, Thursday through Saturday. There will be two seatings each night, with different prices: a 6 pm seating with three courses for $60, and an 8:30 seating with six courses for $85. There are four menus: "signature," wild game, pescatarian and vegetarian. Diners specify their menu when making their reservation.
The opening lineup is an exercise in menu writing. Behold: Kona kampachi poke with fresh wasabi, yuzu and pop rocks; French turtle soup; collection of local greens with beets, goat cheese, almonds and quinoa; Sequoia smoked white cod with asparagus, fennel pollen and candied grapefruit; sous vide Arkansas venison with coffee, cauliflower and granola; and antique Waterloo pain perdu. Awesome.
Cafe Momentum, the restaurant and culinary training facility for at-risk youth, is officially open for business in Thanks-Giving Square downtown. Nearly 40 young men, previously in detention at the Dallas County Youth Village, are employed as interns with the nonprofit, where they will learn critical life skills as well as how to cook, plate and serve. It's open for dinner Thursday-Saturday, 5:30-11 pm.
An unusual new restaurant concept has opened in Weatherford: Vintage Grill & Car Museum features Southern cuisine as well as a vintage-car collection. Jerrett Joslin, chef-owner at Wild Mushroom Steak House, collaborated with Tom Moncrief, whose vintage-car collection is on display. The menus include chicken-fried steak, chicken and waffles, burgers, salads, oysters, sea bass, and more. The museum is open during restaurant hours, and it's free.
A third branch of Austin-based chain VertsKebap has arrived in Dallas, this one at Preston Hollow Village, with a grand opening on January 31. As you surely know, the kebap is a pressed flatbread sandwich filled with vertically roasted meat and topped with yogurt sauce. Owners Michael Heyne and Dominik Stein moved from Germany to Texas to attend the University of Texas at Austin; they opened the first branch near the UT campus after graduating in 2011. Three more are planned for 2015 in Southlake, Richardson and Plano.
Coffee guru Mike Mettendorf has opened State Street Coffee, a coffee shop within the Alcove wine bar that's open from 7 am to 2 pm on weekdays and 8 am to 3 pm on weekends. It has breakfast tacos, espresso and coffee drinks, as well as Noble Coyote cold brew on draft. According to Eater, there's no menu; menus are so limiting. Mettendorf doesn't want to impose his coffee knowledge on the good people of the neighborhood who "should be allowed to drink coffee the way they want." A dollar goes to anyone who goes and orders a chocolate-peppermint Frappuccino with a maraschino cherry and extra whipped cream.
Beset by delays on his Town Hearth restaurant concept, Neighborhood Services chef-owner Nick Badovinus is taking over the space in Preston Center just vacated by John Tesar's Spoon with a new concept called Montlake Cut. It will open in the spring. Badovinus tells SideDish that it's "a love letter to my hometown of Seattle." He tells Eater that it will have a "saltwater focus ... with a healthy dose of broader Pacific Northwest influence as well."
Opening in February is the latest version of Sfuzzi, now owned by VSP Hospitality, an entity created by developer Mehrdad Moayedi in partnership with "hospitality experts" Andrea Pambechy and Matthew Giese. Glad to hear they are experts at hospitality, because they're not so good at answering phone calls or emails. Zing! But we're not bitter. The team recently acquired the trademarks for Sfuzzi and Primo's, after both establishments shuttered their locations on McKinney Avenue.
A new restaurant will open Trinity Groves in February: Sushi Bayashi, from chef Yuki Hirabayashi, formerly of Kenichi, who will prepare authentic Japanese sushi, curry and noodles. Sushi Bayashi will be on the south side of the building located between Kitchen LTO and Resto Gastro Bistro.
The latest restaurant news from The Joule is Italian-American: a new concept called Americano, going into the Charlie Palmer space. It replaces the previously announced Texas-themed restaurant Grasslands. That's right, there will be no Grasslands. Erase any thought of Grasslands from your memory. Despite the demise of Grasslands (which you've hopefully already forgotten about), the chefs will remain the same: Greg Bussey and Matt Ford, who will now be overseeing Americano.
A second branch of Bohemian Cafe will open at the Dallas Farmers Market but with a different name: Kava & Kolache. "We don't have a grand opening date, but we are being told that it will be mid- to late April," says owner Jason Horne.
Greenville Avenue hotspot Remedy has added lunch service. Hours run from 11 am to 2:30 pm, with an abbreviated "afternoon menu" served from 2:30-5:30 pm.
Deep Ellum noodle spot Monkey King Noodle Co. has added hours on Sundays, from 11 am to 3 pm.
Fort Worth's American Food and Beverage is doing a weekly "Sunday Supper" event, with a rotating menu of dishes such as arugula salad, black pepper cream biscuit, fried chicken, meatloaf, ziti pasta, braised greens, sweet potato puree, pear butter cake and turtle brownie sundae. Hours are 4-10 pm and it's $28.
National chain Bonefish Grill, which has one area branch in Southlake, has a new bar menu with items such as mac and cheese bites, lamb lollipops, oyster shooters, and doughnuts with sea salt caramel and chocolate sauce.
Irish-themed food truck Kieron Go Bragh has new menu items: fish tacos with Guinness aioli; a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and penne pasta; fish and chips; shepherd pie; and an "Irish sampler" with Guinness stew, corned beef sliders, and French fries or chips.
The Library in the Warwick Melrose Hotel has a new cocktail menu and wine list. Here's one: 'Til Morning, with bourbon, maple syrup, lemon juice, Carpano Antica vermouth, egg white and a Laphroaig rinse. The wine list has 27 wines by the glass ($9-$28), including selections from California, Washington, Oregon, Argentina, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, New Zealand and Spain. White wines range from a Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena in Napa to a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, while an Argentinian Malbec and Napa's Stag's Leap "Hands of Time" highlight the reds. Sparklers include Taittinger Brut.
Cafe Momentum is now open in downtown Dallas.
Braniff Airlines flight attendants decked out in stylish uniforms.Courtesy photo