Flora Street Cafe

After more than a decade at his self-titled restaurant, serving his famous standards — tamale tart, cowboy rib-eye, heaven and hell cake — Stephan Pyles banished them to another concept and started anew at Flora Street Café. His goal is to cook more formally daring food, challenging Dallas taste buds and avoiding the greatest hits. The result is a daredevil modernist restaurant of a kind Dallas lacked. Techniques are intricate and frequently high-tech. Plates are beautifully presented. Most dishes have five or six components, all demanding analysis. Nothing at Flora Street is suited to chowing down or satisfying a craving. Dining at Flora Street is an odd experience, and not just because the kitchen is so daring. The starters feature playful, even fun dishes. Then the main courses arrive, dull and ordinary, with the kitchen’s endless array of techniques no longer apparent.