Hotel News
Newest restaurant in Dallas' Design District opens at Virgin Hotel
The natty new Virgin Hotels Dallas has opened in the Design District, so has its in-house restaurant Commons Club, the restaurant, bar, and lounge nestled on the ground floor.
Located at 1445 Turtle Creek Blvd., Virgin Hotels Dallas is the third property from Virgin Hotels, the lifestyle hospitality brand pioneered by Sir Richard Branson's global Virgin Group. It was developed in partnership with Bill Hutchinson of Dunhill Partners and is operated by Virgin Hotels.
The Commons Club is the hotel's main eatery; other dining and drinking outlets include the Funny Library Coffee Shop and The Pool Club.
The restaurant
The food is described in a release as refined yet, approachable. The menu is rules by three things: dishes cooked via live fire; seasonal vegetables; and house-made pasta.
Wood-fired dishes include roasted chicken with stewed onion and herb salad; and Texas Wagyu steak frites featuring a Bar N Ranch ribeye, Kennebec frites, and arugula aioli.
There are three pasta dishes including Parisian gnocchi with sweet potato butter, baby fennel, and parmesan.
Seafood includes a Daily ByCatch and mussels en pappillote.
Shareable plates include Texas farm radishes with seaweed butter and bottarga; a wood-grilled maitake mushroom topped with toasted garlic, fine herbs, and aerated hollandaise; and Diver scallops with Texas citrus, brown butter, and hazelnut crumble.
Items like "brown butter" and "hazelnut crumble" are a tipoff to the identity of the chef. The Kitchen in Commons Club features chef Matt McCallister, whose creations at his Oak Lawn restaurant Homewood use similar ingredients.
Collaborating on the menus, and leading Virgin Hotels Dallas' culinary team is executive chef Nick Walker.
The bar
The bar features cocktails rooted in the classics such as the Clover Club with Aviation gin, dry vermouth, lemon, raspberry, and egg white, plus signature cocktails such as the Galactic with Astral tequila, Ancho Reyes, pineapple, and lime.
There's a mirror-walled '70s-inspired lounge located in the middle of the restaurant called The Shag Room, which they say is ideal for a group cocktail experience; and a large wrap-around patio overlooking the Design District.
The bar will also host live music and entertainment.
Being a hotel restaurant, it's open daily for breakfast from 7-11 am; lunch 11:30 am-2 pm; and dinner 5:30-10 pm, except Sunday dinner is 5:30-9 pm. The Bar is open Sunday-Thursday 11:30 am-midnight, and Friday-Saturday 11:30 am-1 am.