Cross over the threshold and Niwa’s sleek and understatedly seductive interior tells you that you’ve arrived. If the feeling doesn’t strike you immediately, it will no later than when you lay your first meat or veggie gently on the self-serve Shinpo down-draft grill sunk into the center of your table.
Since it opened shop in 2014, The Blind Butcher has won over critics and diners alike with house-made sausages, curated charcuterie and a poutine selection that sees a rotation of fatty, decadent meat toppings. A couple of weeks ago, executive chef Oliver Sitrin tucked four brunch items onto the menu. Brunch…
In the corner booth behind me, an elderly man sits by himself and talks to a younger woman at the table across from him. He’s got his iPad out, propped up, and plays a video for her. They’re talking politics. “There was a time when different beliefs could get together,”…
Seeing a woman chasing his train down on foot, a conductor ground the engine to a halt. He feared that tragedy had struck. But it was just Ashton Stauffer doing business. “It stopped for me about a half a mile down,” Stauffer said while seated at a poker table in…
One look at the menu and the awe-inspiring space, including a copper pizza oven that looks like it gave birth to C3PO and the stylishly illustrated wall of wine on tap, and you might think there’s little restraint at Sixty Vines. The menu promises a “cabernet-smothered local Akaushi patty,” caramelized…
The good news: Just a few months after opening their wildly popular brick-and-mortar, Heim Barbecue is opening another restaurant. The bad news (for us carnivores in Dallas, anyway): They’re opening it in Fort Worth. Owners Emma and Travis Heim announced the new location on Facebook today: … we are happy…
We certainly can’t say we saw this one coming: Remedy, the beloved modern soda fountain/purveyor of one of Dallas’ best burgers, is closing Dec. 31 after dinner service, “with plans to open an American/Chinese restaurant in its place late spring/early summer of 2017,” according to a press release. “Kirstyn Brewer…
2016 has been a year of change at Komali. In March, founding chef-owner Abraham Salum sold the Cole Avenue restaurant to John Broady and Emanuel Salinas, relative newcomers to the Dallas restaurant business. Salinas, born in Mexico City and raised in Acapulco, wanted to recalibrate the kitchen to focus on…
Today, the downtown Fort Worth sports bar Frankie’s posted an oh-so familiar Facebook post: An announcement that the bar will be closing, effective immediately. But this social media announcement has an interesting twist: Owners say that the “proverbial straw” is the Affordable Care Act, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported…
Is Richardson’s new Tricky Fish location, in the CityLine mixed-use development, a proto-chain brought to you by the same folks that gave us Razzoo’s? Yes, it is. Considering its namesake dish is basically a plate of tilapia and shrimp étouffée, could you cite Tricky Fish’s menu for a lack of…
The bar and restaurant industry is notoriously fickle. It’s sadly considered notable if a restaurant lasts five years, and it’s not uncommon for a restaurant to shutter in its first year. As consumers, we have emotional attachments to these places. They’re where we have our first dates, our last dates,…
You know that noise corduroy pants make when you walk? As any good logophile will tell you, there’s actually a phrase to describe that very leg-fabric interaction: whistle britches. Southerners have also adopted the phrase to refer to folks who draw attention to themselves, e.g. “old Whistle Britches over there…
We live in the era of viral internet food trends. Rainbow-colored cakes, gooey raclette cheese, over-the-top milkshakes — as soon as a dish goes viral, the trend spreads like wildfire around the country, inevitably making its way to Dallas. One trend that we haven’t been able to find in Dallas…
Barley & Board rolled out their new, fall-inspired dishes last week. The additions bring seasonal twists on menu favorites and introduce some new globally inspired signature entrees. Executive chef Chad Kelley presented the dishes to a small group of press earlier this week in the restaurant’s intimate private dining room…
Before any patty hits the griddle at Kitchen LTO, there’s plenty of work to be done. Cream, butter and vegetable stock bubble up in a pan before receiving shards of smoked cheddar, white cheddar and cream cheese. It’s kept at a very low temperature so it doesn’t burn on the…
All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their history while exploring how the food has changed — for the good or bad — over the years. Except for the hiss of the flat-top, it’s peaceful at Adair’s Saloon on a weekday. The jukebox…
It’s only been open since February 2015, but the dream is over: C’Viche, a fast-casual seafood spot in Lower Greenville, is closing its doors tonight, as reported by Culture Map and announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page: In an interview with Culture Map, owner Courtney Warder says she and husband/partner…
Dallas takes brunch pretty seriously. In this city, “brunch culture” isn’t just an obnoxious trendy catchphrase — it’s a thing, and a big-money thing at that. Brunch draws huge crowds to weekend hotspots in restaurant-laden neighborhoods like Uptown, Deep Ellum and Oak Cliff. Now, the city is getting its first full-blown…
Dallas smoke fiends need to get on their hands and memes and thank the barbecue gods that Daniel Vaughn calls our neck of the woods his own. If not for the venerable BBQ Snob, the barbecue editor at Texas Monthly, we wouldn’t have the sandwich that now unofficially bears his…
After Thursday, the floodgates have opened: It is officially the holiday season, which means an endless supply of sweets, treats and hiding from your family in the bathroom so you can check Facebook in peace. It’s easy to say you’ll be good, calorie-wise, but it’s far easier to give in…
Here at the Observer, brunch is de rigueur. Every week, we bring you tales from the à la carte front line of Dallas’ bustling brunch scene. Brunch buffets, on the other hand, might as well be located on Mars, for we have spent the same amount of time exploring the…
It’s a good thing Tom Ford, Dior and Brunello Cucinelli have retail locations within walking distance of the newly opened Honor Bar in Highland Park Village — that way, if you find yourself out of the Honorable’s proper attire requirements, you can go pick something up real quick. You know,…
