Celebrity Chef News

Knife steakhouse by chef John Tesar to close location at Dallas hotel

Steak at Knife in Dallas
Steak at Knife in Dallas. Photo courtesy of Knife

A Dallas celebrity chef steakhouse is closing: Knife, the steakhouse at The Highland Dallas hotel at 5300 E. Mockingbird Ln. from John Tesar, is closing after more than a decade.

According to a release, Knife will be closing and moving to a new location "as it moves toward an exciting new evolution." Its final day is August 31.

According to a statement from Lennox Capital Partners, the private lodging investment and management firm that acquired the Highland Dallas in 2018, the hotel and Tesar are "concluding their partnership."

The hotel, which is also undertaking a $13 million renovation, is in interim talks with a new hospitality group for a new concept that will replace Knife — which could also be implemented prior to the August 31 date.

"We are grateful for Chef Tesar’s partnership over the years and we wish him success in his future endeavors," their statement says.

There was a plan in place between Tesar and Lennox Capital Partners, outlined in October 2024, to rebrand Knife into a new expanded concept that would be called Knife Steak & Seafood, which would have pulled from Knife & Spoon, a sibling that Tesar opened at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes in 2020. Not anymore.

Tesar has two other Knife restaurants: Knife Italian Steak - The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas, and Knife & Spoon Knife Steakhouse - The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, in which he's partnered with restaurateur George Stergios.

He also has a Knife Burger at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando. He had a Knife Burger at Willow Bend in Plano, but tht is temporarily closed. Another Knife steakhouse in California, at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, was dissolved in 2023.

Tesar is currently appearing on House of Knives, a cooking competition show on Food Network.

A spokesperson for Tesar says that Tesar, in collaboration with GBOD Hospitality Group (El Chingon) and 3ntourage Hospitality Group (Wade's Landing), has other big Dallas plans for Knife. They've identified a "premier Dallas location" for a new expanded version of Knife that would feature Knife; plus a more intimate and experiential entity called Pocket Knife; and a new social concept called Switchblade, all under one roof. Where that roof will be, they do not say.

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