Chef News

High-profile Dallas restaurant Georgie appoints new executive chef

Well hello chef Wes Whitsell.

Ashley Randall

A high-profile Dallas restaurant has a new chef: Georgie, the fine-dining restaurant at Travis Walk, has lured North Texas native and chef Wes Whitsell back to town by naming him Executive Chef.

Whitsell’s first assignment will be a charity dinner on Monday September 29, benefiting the Mystic 7 foundations, honoring the seven Dallas-area girls lost in this summer’s Texas Hill Country flooding tragedy. Whitsell's first seasonal menu will debut at the restaurant the next day.

Whitsell grew up on a working family farm, called Whitsell Farms, in Princeton, and also previously worked for Travis Street Hospitality as executive chef at Up on Knox (now Knox Bistro) in 2017.

A graduate of Sam Houston State University, Whitsell worked in Los Angeles-area restaurants such as Gjelina in Venice, Osteria La Buca, Manuela, Blair's, and Hatchet Hall where he earned the restaurant a Michelin star. He was also executive chef at Soho House Manhattan and opened a restaurant, The Beach by Ours, in Bali.

Georgie is the most fine-dining-est concept in the Travis Street Hospitality group which also owns revered restaurants Le Bilboquet, Knox Bistro, Le Passage, Rose Cafe, and Frenchie.

Georgie debuted at 4515 Travis Walk in November 2019, starting out as a collaboration between owner Stephan Courseau, celebrity chef Curtis Stone, and his brother Luke Stone, with chef Toby Archibald at the helm. Archibald departed to open his own restaurant, Quarter Acre. He was replaced by chef RJ Yoakum who then left in June 2025.

Charity dinner
Priced at $250 per person, the charity dinner will be served family style. All proceeds from food sales will go directly to the foundations.

The foundations include Living for Lulu (honoring Eloise Peck); Hadley Hanna GoFundMe Tribute (Hadley Hanna); Charitable Fund at The Dallas Foundation (Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence); Lila’s Light (Lila Bonner); More like Wynne Fund (Wynne Naylor); and Janie Hunt Foundation in care of The Day School at Highland Park Pres (Janie Hunt).

The menu will include:

Starter: deviled eggs, country ham, house-fermented pickles, and cantaloupe from Whitsell Farms served with house-made bread.
Entrée: roasted heritage chicken, grilled Texas venison loin, and shrimp & grits with whipped potatoes, stewed black-eyed beans, and Whitsell Farms okra
Dessert: peach cobbler with buttermilk ice cream

Reservations can be made on Resy.

"This community has really come together in such a profound way to honor these young girls and support their families,” Whitsell says. “I’m proud to be involved with the Georgie team to help raise money for the Mystic 7 family foundations in what truly has been such unfathomable situation.”

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Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

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