Uptown Dallas News

Michelin favorite Dallas restaurant opens new location in Uptown

Scallops at Written By the Seasons

WBTS

Opening day has arrived for a new restaurant in Uptown Dallas: Written By The Seasons, an indie farm-to-table restaurant, has debuted at The Quad, at 2681 Howell St., where it's serving seasonal fare, open for lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch to come this spring.

This is the second location of a restaurant that was founded in Bishop Arts in 2021 — a restaurant that also just earned a nod from the new-to-Texas Michelin Guide.

Written is owned by Brenton Phillips with his wife Hailey Nutt and Dallas native Tripp Russ, and is known for its rotating seasonal dishes, showcasing fresh ingredients with a creative twist.

The Quad's executive manager director and partner Ramsey March described it as "one of our favorite restaurants in Dallas," stating that "the restaurant has a devoted following in the Bishop Arts District, so we’re excited that Brenton and Hailey will be exporting their special brand of hospitality to our project in Uptown."

The restaurant also earned a "Recommended" award from the first Michelin Guide awards in Texas, bestowed in November 2024.

Typical dishes include:

kimchi pancakes
coconut braised baby carrots
cod with sweet potato puree
scallops with risotto
pistachio pavlova

Rosmery Menendez, the restaurant's director of operations, says that the two locations will not have identical menus.

"Uptown is a special neighborhood and we're happy to be there — The Quad is a great spot, and we're happy that the heart we have at our restaurant in Bishop Arts is translating to Uptown," she says. "But we're treating the two locations as independent restaurants. It won't be the exact same menu. There are some similarities and we have a few semi-classic dishes like our grilled shrimp & avocado with mango and Asian pear at both locations. But we'll do unique dishes for each. For example, we're doing a snapper with sticky jasmine rice that is only being served at The Quad. And when we do seasonal updates, the menus will not be the same."

The culinary program at Written By the Seasons is run by rockstar chef duo Melody Bishop and Dennis Kelly, farm-to-table pioneers who came to Dallas from California in 2012 to open the now-closed Lark on the Park and whose far-reaching acclaim includes a nomination for Rising Star Chef in CultureMap's 2015 Tastemaker Awards.

"Written By the Seasons reflects their travel and experiences," says Menendez, a former chef who also moved to Dallas from California to help open Brewed + Pressed, a coffee and juice bar in the West Village, and who was nominated for a Tastemakers Award for best pastry chef in 2022. "They change the menu not just for the season but specifically for the farming season in Texas. If Mel says the peaches are no longer good, then we stop using peaches. They work with local producers to take advantage of what's best at the time."

Decor-wise, the new location was designed by Jones Baker, the Dallas firm known for its tasteful restaurant work, who collaborated with co-owner Hailey Nutt. The space boasts floor-to-ceiling windows, not unlike the Bishop Arts location; but unlike Bishop Arts which is bright and airy, Uptown is outfitted in dark woods, with a beautiful chocolate-brown marble bar and sophisticated lighting. There's also a personal touch, with family photos on the walls.

Written by the Seasons is one of a slate of new restaurants opening at the Quad, which recently re-opened after a massive makeover.

The property originally had plans for seven on-site eateries slated to open in fall 2024, including Two Hands, an all-day café; LDU, an Australian coffee bar; Domodomo, a chef-driven dock-to-table concept; Mamani, a modern European fine-dining restaurant; Crushcraft, Thai street food concept; and Bread Club, an upscale bakery.

uptown openings

Pizza News

Yonx Pizza seduces north Dallas suburbs with New York-style pies

Yonx

Yonx Pizza, by the slice.

A pizzeria with a dedicated following has debuted in Melissa: Yonx Pizza Bar & Co., an indie spot that does New York-style pizzas as well as pizza by the slice, has opened a location at 1521 McKinney St. #700 — an address that had pizza history as it was home for nearly a decade to a Palio's Pizza, which closed in 2025.

Yonx is from Robert Hede, a restaurant veteran who was previously involved with the Village Burger Bar chain, where he was a partner. He switched from burgers to pizza in 2022 when he connected with NY Pizza and Pints, a small local pizzeria chain, opening a location in Wylie at 1125 FM 544 #800. After two years, he broke off from the chain to found Yonx at the same address.

Yonx does the kind of New York-style thin-crust pizza that Dallas-Fort Worth loves, in a standard 14-inch, as well as a massive 24-inch "Kong" size. They also do slices, which can be ordered as a lunch with a Caesar salad for $9.99.

Varieties include familiar favorites like pepperoni, as well as slightly gourmet options with New York-inspired names such as:

Balsamic on Bleeker St., with garlic sauce, mushrooms, shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, arugula, and balsamic drizzle
Bronx Bomb, with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, meatballs, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese
Brooklyn, basically a meat-lovers with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, sliced ham, chopped meatball, beef, & pepperoni
Greenwich Garden, a vegetarian with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, red & green bell peppers, white onions, mushrooms, spinach, & black olives

Prices range from $16 for a 14-inch cheese pizza to $46 for a NY Giant Supreme Soho with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, beef, red & green bell peppers, white onions, sliced mushrooms, & black olives.

Yonx Pizza soup in a bread bowl.Photo courtesy of Yonx

There are also sandwiches on house-made toasted focaccia such as the Italian tower with melted provolone cheese, sliced ham, salami, lettuce, red onion, pepperoncinis, & sundried tomato aioli.

Appetizers include comforting soups served in a bread bowl including tomato basil and jalapeno cream soup with charred jalapenos. Plus wings, garlic knots, and "Brooklyn Ballers" — their signature meatballs in marinara, made in-house. topped with whipped ricotta and Parmesan, served with pesto and focaccia ends.

A full bar features frozen margaritas and frozen mojitos made with agave gold tequila. The best day to order those is "Frozen Fridays" from 11 am-10:30 pm when the blueberry mojitos are $6 and the margaritas are $5.

The Melissa location opened in January, with the same menu as the Wylie original, and has been met with an unprecedented wave of positive reviews on Facebook: one comment after another raving over how great the pizza is, and what a godsend it is — positive reviews that began to stack up even before the place had officially opened, the likes of which have been rarely seen.

This location boasts almost double the size of the original in Wylie, with a covered patio where they'll host live music on the weekends outside.

Hede, who has been hands-on at the Melissa location since it opened, says he's all-in on these northernmost suburbs of Dallas.

"I like this area — I feel like all the growth is heading out in this direction, there's just a lot of activity up here," he says.

pizza openings