Bishop Arts News

Ex-Lucia Dallas space makes way for NY restaurant with brunch all day

Brunch all day is totally the right thing.

Isla & Co.

Pull out your world atlas for this: A new restaurant and bar based in New York is coming to Dallas from an Australian team. Called Isla & Co., it'll open in Bishop Arts, at 408 W. 8th St., better known as the former Lucia Dallas space. (Lucia relocated to 287 N. Bishop Ave.)

Isla & Co. is from Parched Restaurant Group, a New York outfit from two natives of Australia, Barry Dry and Tom Rowse, whose other concepts include coffee cafe Hole in the Wall, The Sentry penthouse lounge, and Daintree in Midtown Manhattan.

There are currently Isla & Co. locations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Fairfield, Connecticut; and Midtown Manhattan. Bishop Arts opens October 21.

Co-owner Tom Rowse says that their goal with Isla — pronounced "eye-la" — is to recreate a common concept in Australia.

"Isla is one of most popular female names in Australia," Rowse says. "We liked the idea of having a female name, and it's also a Scottish word that translates to 'island'."

"The concept started in New York where we could find coffee specialty shops and places doing good brunch or good dinner, but no one that did them all," he says. "That kind of versatility is not unique in Australia."

So they're there for morning coffee, lunch, and dinner, with a seasonal food and beverage menu featuring influences from Australia, Europe, and SouthEast Asia, plus cheerful, engaging service.

"The service aspect can be challenging, especially in this environment, but it's important to us," Rowse says. "We are very culture driven and put a lot of time into not just hiring the right staff but in doing continuous training. We want to create a fun work culture that passes on to the guest experience. We even have a 'culture officer' who supervises this process."

Dallas had been on their radar for a couple of years.

"A few years ago, we might've gone to Austin, but Bishop Arts spoke to us," he says. "We like to be in areas with good restaurants and Bishop Arts has a great food & beverage scene. And the space itself is exactly what we were looking for, with 40 seats inside and 40 outside."

Food
Executive chef Matt Foley attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, worked at two-Michelin-starred Marea, and was corporate chef at fast-casual restaurant group DIG, before joining Parched, where he oversees the menus at Hole in the Wall and Isla & Co.

Brunch is served daily until 4 pm and includes:

Brekkie Roll
Smoked Salmon Benedict
Brioche French Toast
Isla & Co. Burger
Grilled Chicken Sandwich with cheddar and charred broccoli pesto

Dinner dishes include:

Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni
Fish & Chips
Pork Sausage Rolls
Thai Green Vegetable Curry
Half Chicken with seasonal roasted vegetables

Drinks
Isla & Co. has a specialty coffee program inspired by Australia's hardcore coffee culture, serving Hole in the Wall Espresso with two house blends suitable for espresso or drip, originating from Ethiopia and the Americas, and roasted in Denver. Need the world atlas again!

Their bar program includes a wine list focused on natural and organic wines, plus craft beer and signature cocktails like the Espresso Martini (Tito's vodka, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, espresso), Wizard of Aus (Starward Whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, egg white, Shiraz wine float), Isla Old Fashioned (bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, Eucalyptus bitters), and The Taipan (Hiatus Tequila, spicy pepper, yuzu, agave, and shiso).

All beverages including mimosas and bloody marys are served from brunch through to dusk.

Isla & Co. is also slated to open locations in Atlanta, South Beach, and West Palm Beach later this year.

oak-cliff openings

Punk News

Tasting menu restaurant Punk Noir to open in Dallas' Design District

Courtesy rendering

Punk Noir

A new restaurant doing a tasting menu only is coming to Dallas' Design District: Called Punk Noir, it'll open at 139 Turtle Creek Blvd, #130, Dallas, TX 75207 with a 20-course tasting menu and an immersive, multi-room design — smashing the conventions of fine dining, as a press release so articulately states.

It's set to debut Tuesday, June 2, in time to welcome World Cup visitors.

Led by James Beard Award-winning chef RJ Cooper, the restaurant will combine "world-class cuisine, irreverent artistry, and edgy elegance."

Punk Noir A funky, punky cocktail.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

Owners are Dallas natives John McKeel and his sons Cole and Clay McKeel, who conceived the project as a passion project.

“Punk Noir is a rebellion against the ordinary,” Cole McKeel says in a statement. “What initially inspired us to open this concept were our personal experiences traveling across the USA, Europe, and Japan. We’ve eaten at many Michelin-starred restaurants, even some ranked among the Top 50 in the world. So many of them had amazing food, but the experience often felt flat—stiff, quiet, and even intimidating. We wanted to create something different: food that is just as refined and world-class, but an experience that is unforgettable, irreverent, and full of energy."

Punk Noir — which is no relation to Punk Royale, a similar-sounding European concept founded in Stockholm in 2015 that has since opened spinoffs in Copenhagen and Oslo — will be in a 9,500-square-foot warehouse where it will host two to three seatings per night, with only 26 seats per seating.

The space will incorporate:

a dramatic communal dining room with projection-mapped visuals and graffiti art led by a “Mistress of Ceremonies”
an open kitchen where Cooper presents select courses to an intimate neon-lit dining room
the Noir Lounge, which will seat 46 guests and offer cocktails alongside “mini tasting” menus for those not partaking in the full experience

A VIP car service option will also be available, chauffeuring guests directly to the restaurant in a black SUV and delivering them up a private ramp and into the restaurant where they will be escorted to the first room to begin the immersive dining experience.

One of the 20 courses at Punk Noir.Photo by Amy Zawacki

The food
The experience will consist of a 20-course tasting menu that weaves together global influences, cutting-edge gastronomy, and Cooper's personal inspirations. The release says that diners can expect courses that are "playful and provocative — some just a single bite, others layered with theatricality and multi-sensory touches."

From the release:

"The menu will change often but the experience begins with an 'agrarian prologue,' exploring the quiet intimacy of soil, root, and garden before moving toward the pull of the sea. Early courses such as camote morado with huitlacoche and blue crab with seaweed and calamansi establish a dialogue between land and ocean.

"As the progression unfolds, the menu builds tension through fire and transformation - featuring dishes like scallop with turmeric and Kaluga caviar, turbot with mussel and plankton, and cod cheek with dashi. Later sample courses explore indulgence through restraint, with compositions including Peking duck, Australian wagyu, and fermented endive - each emphasizing controlled richness and depth.

"The experience concludes with unexpected, thought-provoking pairings, for example, onion with Amur caviar, white chocolate with kombu, and sunchoke with ash - designed to challenge and resolve the palate in equal measure."

Ingredients will feature seasonal highlights from Italy, Japan, Central America, and closer to home. Each course will be paired with wines, cocktails, and zero-proof beverages.

The 20-course tasting menu is $295 per person.

The chef
RJ Cooper won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in 2007. His prior concepts include Rogue 24, serving a 24-course tasting menu, in Washington, D.C.; Gypsy Soul, a Southern bistro; and Saint Stephen and Acqua in Nashville. He previously worked at Vidalia in D.C. for seven years and has earned national press.

Punk Noir Artwork by Michael Shellis in the Noir Lounge.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

The bar manager
The cocktail tasting program, led by acclaimed bar manager Shane Scully, is "a multi-course exploration of form, flavor, and restraint - reimagining signature cocktails through a lower-ABV lens without sacrificing depth or impact," the release says. The wine program will focus on wines "with a clear sense of place and straightforward appeal, drawing from classic and emerging regions including Champagne, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley in France, as well as Napa Valley and Sonoma in California, alongside selections from Italy and Spain," they say.

The owner
John McKeel shares his and his sons' vision for Punk Noir: “It is irreverent fine dining. The lounge has punk graffiti wall art and unrestrained departure from the familiar. We are here to challenge the norms of traditional fine dining, turn the Dallas dining scene on its head. We are disruptors. We are here to challenge our guests' conventions of what elevated dining should be. We provide an experience that is surprising, provocative, entertaining, and delicious."

Reservations can now be booked at https://www.exploretock.com/punk-noir/.

---

This story originally was published on September 25, 2025 and has been updated with opening date, new menu and personnel details.