Italian Food Is Hot

Harwood adds authentic Italian to menagerie of Uptown Dallas restaurants

Authentic Italian food eatery Dolce Riviera is coming to Dallas' Uptown.

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Uptown Dallas juggernaut Harwood Hospitality Group is debuting a new restaurant that fills an increasingly vital niche: authentic Italian food. Called Dolce Riviera, it's a fine-dining authentic Italian concept designed to re-create the spirit of the world's best-known resort, the Côte d'Azur. It launches with a very quiet opening by limited reservations only, on September 6.

Located at 2950 N. Harwood St., Dolce Rivier is steps away from Harwood's ever-growing menagerie of eateries that include Saint Ann Restaurant and Bar, Mercat Bistro, Marie Gabrielle, Magnolia's Sous Le Pont Coffee Shop, the Groves at Harwood, and Happiest Hour.

The chef is Christian Sbordi, who attended culinary school in his native Italy, then moved to New York, where he worked at Fiamma Osteria, which earned a Michelin star rating.

Recipes will hold true to classic Italian cuisine: There'll be house-made pasta and authentic dishes such as chitarrucci di mare (pasta with seafood) and tonno al sesamo (seared tuna with sesame).

Dolce Riviera takes a step back in time when the Italian and French Rivieras were simple yet elegant. Remember those days? They were before our time, but they sound divine. The decor will draw inspiration from the blue hues of the Mediterranean Sea, with blue-and-white tablecloths and a light airy atmosphere in the dining room, patio, and lounge.

As befits a Harwood International concept, there'll be meticulously manicured European gardens to lend a sense of calmness and serenity, evoking the spirit of a small giardino found in Italy. If it's Harwood, there has to be a patio.

If you're the kind of person who always has to be first to dine at new restaurants, there's already a website for the restaurant as well as a Dolce Riviera page set up on Open Table, where you can make reservations for dinner starting on September 6. A spokesperson at the restaurant said that Dolce Riviera would eventually open for lunch, as well.

openings uptown

Steakhouse News

High-profile Palladino's Steak & Seafood heads to Preston-Royal Dallas

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Filet Mignon will be on the menu.

A high-profile new steakhouse is coming to North Dallas: Palladino’s Steak & Seafood, an eponymous concept from Dallas restaurateur Joseph Palladino, will open at 5959 Royal Ln., in the former Spec's space.

Palladino is the larger-than-life ex-NYPD police officer-turned-restaurateur known for concepts such as Nick & Sam's Steakhouse and the Coal Vines pizza chain.

Palladino's Steak & Seafood is a newly created concept, which will combine steakhouse, Italian dishes, and seafood, particularly sushi. The first location is already penciled in for New York, opening in the former Michael Jordan Steakhouse at Grand Central Terminal, which closed in 2018.

The New York location is being designed by the international design firm Rockwell Group and according to a spokesperson, is slated to open in early summer. The Dallas spinoff will open in winter 2025.

Palladino first landed on the Dallas restaurant scene in 1998 to partner up with the equally larger-than-life restaurateur Phil Romano, and went on to have a hand in the creation of Nick & Sam’s, the swanky steakhouse on Maple Avenue (now run by Sam Romano, son of co-founder Phil Romano), Nick & Sam's Grill, Dos Jefes, and more. He created Coal Vines as an homage to the casual neighborhood restaurants reminiscent of his upbringing in New York.

Joseph Palladino and Troy Aikman Joseph Palladino and one of his many celebrity pals, Troy Aikman.Instagram

Palladino was approached by Preston Royal's landlords to open a restaurant at the center. Given his local following and celebrity draw, as well as the large local appetite for steakhouses, Dallas made sense as a second location, particularly at the highly desirable intersection of Preston and Royal.

On the culinary side, Palladino is partnered with veteran chef Sam Hazen, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America as well as an instructor there. His star-studded resume includes La Côte Basque, the Quilted Giraffe, Quatorze, Michelin three-star Le Gavroche, Terrace in the Sky, Cascabel, and Tavern on the Green. He was most recently at Tao, the glitzy Asian concept from Tao Hospitality, where he worked for a decade, giving him sushi expertise.

Palladino is busy getting the New York location open first, and the menu has yet to be revealed.

"But it'll have high-quality steaks and seafood, along with some of my trademark specials and Italian dishes," Palladino says.

However, Hazen previewed a dish on Linked In, consisting of a slice of toast with a cut-out center of pate, with accompaniments that included cornichons and mustard — like a pate version of the classic "egg in a hole."

The hospitality will match the cuisine and ambience. “I intend to bring a very special steakhouse to the city, one that the locals can embrace," Palladino says. "They’re going to receive a good experience — that’s important to me.”

"Pate in a hole" dish shared by Palladino's chef Sam Hazen.Sam Hazen

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