Design District Eats
Tim Headington blows up Dallas Design District with new restaurants
The opening is near for the trio of restaurants in the Dallas Design District from Tim Headington, developer and owner of The Joule hotel in downtown Dallas.
The three restaurants include a gastropub called Wheelhouse, a Cal-Ital eatery called Sassetta, and a grab-and-go concept called Go Go. The three restaurants form the perimeter of an outdoor pavilion, centered around an 18-foot-tall sculpture called Moving Figure, by New York artist Daniel Arsham.
Wheelhouse opens March 25 and will serve lunch and dinner daily. The menu includes house-made sausages, breads, and pretzels, plus small plates such as beef jerky, pastrami pork ribs with kimchi slaw, oysters on the half shell, and smoked trout dip.
Salads include a grain salad with quinoa, wild rice, tofu, and shiitake mushrooms. But let's get back to the meat. There's a butcher's-cut steak with crispy onions and chimichurri, plus fish and chips and a burger with blue cheese and bacon.
The bar includes beer and wine, plus several "three- and four-ingredient" craft cocktails, some available on tap and in pitchers. That's a new one, to describe cocktails by how many ingredients they have. Hey bartender, what do you have for four-ingredient cocktails?
Industrial design elements include guillotine-style windows that are mechanically operated and are floor-to-ceiling, so you get an outdoor experience with panoramic views of the pavilion where the Moving Figure sculpture will anchor regularly hosted programming, from art installations to live music.
Moving Figure is the latest manifestation of Arsham’s structural experiments and satirical wit conveying Headington Companies’ ongoing interest in creating environments with evocative, large-format artworks at its restaurants, retail, and hospitality settings.
Sassetta will open in late April. The menu will do creative reinterpretations of Italian dishes including pizza, which will be available for delivery in the area. Design will be European contemporary with a subtle nod to Harry’s Bar in Venice. It'll function as an all-day cafe for those looking to linger.
Go Go is "coming soon." It's a grab-and-go concept with Counter Culture Coffee, plus house-baked goods, sandwiches, pizzas, and entrées. Go Go will serve as the hub for carry-out orders from Wheelhouse and Sassetta, as well as function as an in-house delivery service to area residents and businesses.
The restaurants are in the Decorative Center at 1617 Hi Line Dr. All three concepts are under the leadership of Brian Zenner and Michael Sindoni, Headington Companies' culinary operations team.
Headington Companies has a big stake in the Design District, with 20-plus independent real estate acquisitions, while its activities in retail, hospitality, restaurant, residential, and office in downtown Dallas continue to grow with new projects both within and beyond the Main Street District. Soon he will rule the world.
Joseph Palladino inside Palladino's Steak & SeafoodPhoto courtesy of Palladino's
The snazzy bar area.Photo courtesy of Palladino's