Chef News

Chef Misti Norris' limited-run restaurant in downtown Dallas is now open

Chef Misti Norris has a big foodie following.

Photo courtesy of Misti Norris

If you want to know where all the foodies are gonna be, it's in downtown Dallas where acclaimed chef Misti Norris is opening a temporary restaurant at the AT&T Discovery District.

Called Stepchild, it describes itself as an Acadian/French-inspired restaurant "with a focus on seasonality, art and French Hip Hop," LOL, and it's a temporary restaurant from the chef and owner of Petra & the Beast in East Dallas.

According to a spokesperson, it's opening on June 24.

Stepchild is located in The Second Floor space and is part of a new rotating chef concept called Attalie. Norris was originally scheduled to preside over the space from June to July, but that will be extended "indefinitely," the spokesperson says.

The talker on the opening menu is the 5-day aged Koji brined chicken, battered and fried, with rolls and gravy, enough to serve 4 to 6 people, must pre-order 72 hours in advance, for the amazing price of $200.

Other entrees include bone-in pork chop, A Bar tri-tip, and two vegetable-based dishes: trumpet mushroom with morel ragout, and embered okra with tomato, pickled okra, and "jasmoon" rice.

Starters include:

confit frog legs
duck boudin
summer tomato salad
crab butter
French onion soup
garlic soup

Desserts include a peach tart and a chocolate-black-banana cake.

A half dozen cocktails include classics with a twist such as a Vieux Carre, a "Deja Vu" with vodka and espresso, and a frozen framboise.

There's also a dozen-or-so wines by the bottle and the glass, heavy on selections from Europe, with some interesting French chardonnay and Bordeaux.

You can make your reservation on Resy.com, it's open Thursday-Sundays for dinner.

Norris opened Petra and the Beast in 2018, and it has won numerous awards including Best New Restaurant in 2019 by Bon Appetit. Norris also won Best Chef of the Year in CultureMap's 2019 Tastemaker Awards, although for some reason she does not list this in her little bio and yet does list that Petra won a Best Charcuterie award. I mean, I feel like a Best Chef beats a Best Charcuterie hands-down but I'm probably biased towards the Tastemaker Awards for probably obvious reasons.

Attalie is part of a recent shakeup on the part of the AT&T Discovery District, that also included the addition of Easy Slider, the slider-centric concept from Caroline Perini and Miley Holmes; and Birdie, a fried chicken concept featuring chef Joshua Harmon.

chefs downtown openings

Deli News

Gourmet market Ari's Pantry to open in Dallas' Trinity Groves

Ari's Pantry

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A new gourmet grocery is coming to Trinity Groves: Ari's Pantry, the market launched in Oak Cliff by husband-and-wife Ari and Amy Lowenstein, will open a second location in West Dallas’ Trinity Groves, with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, November 30.

Located at 3011 Gulden Ln. #119 in the space that was once home to Potato Flats who remembers them, the Trinity Groves store will offer: pasta, olive oil, vinegars, preserves, candy, bread, crackers, cheese, meats, pizza dough, fresh pasta, housewares, cocktail ingredients, novelty kitchen gadgets, spices, prepared foods, fresh pesto and Ari’s own tomato sauce.

“We are excited to open our newest location at Trinity Groves joining the great businesses already there and the wave of new ventures opening in the development,” Ari Lowenstein says in a release. “With this location we will reach a new audience in West Dallas and be closer to our customers coming from downtown and the north.”

The couple opened their first location in Winnetka Heights at 1307 ½ W. Davis St. in December 2023 to fulfill Ari's passion for all things Italy. The idea was a small Italian food store with recipe-ready staples, with a hyper-local vibe. It has since blossomed into a general-purpose gourmet stop.

In addition to the food staples for sale found at their Bishop Arts location, Ari’s Trinity Groves location will also include a commercial catering kitchen that will enable them to provide full-service catering, prepared meal pick-up, pasta classes, and private dinners.

“Amy and Ari bring something new and special to this development as our first partner to offer consumer packaged goods made by people and companies outside of Trinity Groves,” said Sam Romano, Partner at West Dallas Investments, parent company of Trinity Groves. “They are part of the vision we have for the future of Trinity Groves that will combine innovative, up and coming chefs and restauranteurs with lifestyle and entertainment options like pickleball, bocce ball, popup events, arcade game play and additional retail partners.”

The Ari's empire doesn't stop here: Their goal is to open multiple locations "in all corners of DFW and beyond," and that includes a location in the Cyprus Waters community in Coppell, slated to open in spring 2025.

downtown openings