How 'Bout Something for the 469?

Chef Tony Gardizi worked the kitchen for the defunct Riviera, the defunct Buddha Bar, the defunct Vino & Basso, the defunct J. Peir in Terrell and the defunct Guthrie's; he also had short stints at Hibiscus, Mi Piaci and Stephan Pyles (whom John Mariani just named Chef of the Year in the November issue of Esquire). Now he will command the kitchen in a new restaurant and lounge on Belt Line Road dreamed up by Stephen Williams, Michael Lamkoski and Stephen Maatouk (more later on who these people are).

The restaurant is Veuve. The lounge is Nine 7 Two. (Dallas' area code restaurant/bar trend is thus official.) The 10,000-square foot restaurant and lounge will serve "global cuisine," such as tea-smoked heirloom tomatoes with an edible balsamic spoon, and offer hip pulse music (you know the stuff) plus a "swanky" cigar bar. Plus the restaurant has 18-foot waterfalls to wet your hair. Watch for both in December. And the Pyles press release about his Esqy nod follows after the jump. --Mark Stuertz

ESQUIRE MAGAZINE NAMES STEPHAN PYLES AS "CHEF OF THE YEAR"

DALLAS, TX (October 12, 2006) - In the yearly article by noted restaurant writer, John Mariani, Esquire magazine's November issue has named Stephan Pyles as "Chef of the Year."

John Mariani, renowned restaurant critic and author, travels the country throughout the year visiting restaurants to determine the best of the best. This year he has once again scouted out the most exciting places to dine. The article, "Best New Restaurants 2006", touts the top restaurants throughout the United States. Mariani declares "Pyles is not only one of the best of his generation but a chef who still has a lot to teach the current crop of cooks."

Stephan and his business partner, George Majdalani, will travel to New York to accept the award on Monday, October 16.

Award-winning Chef Stephan Pyles, a pioneer of New American Cuisine and a legendary founding father of Southwestern Cuisine, has launched the first restaurant to bear his name. The 160-seat Stephan Pyles restaurant is located within the Dallas Arts District just steps away from Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center and Meyerson Symphony Center. The restaurant employs architecture and design to salute the arts of fine cooking and dining.

The menu features New Millennium Southwestern Cuisine. It weaves a global food tapestry of tastes, flavors, and textures from Texas, from South America, from Spain, from the Mediterranean, from the Middle East, and from Chef Pyles' many years of award-winning experience in devising and enhancing New American and Southwestern Cuisines.

The focal point of the restaurant is the display kitchen, inside a glass box shaped by a metallic geometric frame, that can be seen from throughout the space. There are three distinct dining rooms along with a tapas and ceviche bar, a communal dining table and a wine room as well as an al fresco terrace dining area. The private dining room will double as a space for sharing Pyles' expertise via cooking classes that are scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2006.

Illuminating design along with fine food will delight guests via the new restaurant's sensual melding of ultra modern geometric shapes in metal and wood with vivid regional accents: Southwestern sunset and desert colors, stacked Texas flag stone, the mesquite and hickory smoke smells emanating from a wood-burning oven, rotisserie and grill.

The Stephan Pyles restaurant (www.stephanpyles.com) is open for lunch (Monday through Friday) and dinner (Monday through Saturday). Located at 1807 Ross Avenue at St. Paul Street, reservations can be made by calling 214-580-7000.