Dallas

FT33, Dallas, 8/18/17

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Frankie posed on the sign out front
Frankie posed on the sign out front

This is the second  official Frankie visit to FT33 and the restaurant has made a few more changes to the place.  It’s still the same large dining room with 4 counter seats across from the kitchen , a good sized bar area and located in the Design District.  Now valet parking is a must if you want to park in the lot adjacent to the restaurant since several others places have opened that share the same lot.  Self parking is available if you’re willing to walk down to the next lot.  Now they not only stress locally sourced ingredients but exclusively use them.  If not fresh and in season they may be pickled or otherwise preserved and flavor is the focus of the meal.  They have an inventive cocktail menu and a well chosen wine list.  Food is offered in a daily a la carte menu but now they offer a $65 4-course menu with about 4 choices for each course.   Continue reading →

Mirador, Dallas, 2/11/17

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entrance

Mirador is on the top floor of the new 4-story building housing the  ‘Forty Five Ten’ store in downtown Dallas.  They have been serving lunch since January and are starting offering dinner on Friday and Saturday the weekend before we tried it.  Josh Sutcliff is Executive Chef and Junior Borges collaborates with him as Executive Chef of the Joule Hotel(which operates the dining room).  It is a large room with two side of windows looking out over downtown.  There is a balcony on the other side of the windows if you choose to dine with a closer look at the buildings and downtown activity.  The indoor seating is with tables using banquette and chair seating options.   Continue reading →

Town Hearth, Dallas, 2/2/17 & 2/10/17

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building
building

Town Hearth is the newest addition to the restaurants run by Nick Badovinus.  This one is more upscale but large and filled with decorations like his other places.  When you enter a small private party room is to one side and the large bar with some dining tables is right in front of you.  The chandeliers start here and carry on into the main large dining room.  They give nice light and a real glitter to the ceiling, as well as being quite striking. You also can’t help but notice a mini yellow submarine immersed in an aquarium filled with fish – it separates the bar and dining room. Don’t miss the car that sits right in front of the large open kitchen, it’s lower to the ground.   Continue reading →

Montlake Cut, Dallas, 11/5/16

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Exterior

Montlake Cut is a Nick Badovinus concept restaurant specializing in Pacific Northwest foods.  It is medium sized with fairly close tables and bar seating which seemed to be for walk-in guests.  The decor is nautical with bench seating that reminds you of seating on a boat and various boating signs, etc used as decorations. There is also a large aquarium toward the back bar. Service is helpful but staff are stretched so order while you can. In their defense, the night we went they called to see if they could move up our reservation by an hour as somehow they had gotten overbooked, which may have attributed to server overload.   Continue reading →

The Heights, Dallas, 5/16/16 – 9/3/16

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Exterior
Exterior

The Heights in Lakewood has been open about a year and serves lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.  I’ve been for lunch several times and have enjoyed the food and friendly service;  during two visits at dinner both had great service  but the food was terrific once  and flawed the other. I believe the good meal is more indicative of their product but can’t omit it in all honesty. The restaurant offers a full bar but a very limited  wine list.   Continue reading →

Sprezza, Dallas, 8/22/16

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Building
Building

Sprezza is a large place that has been open since the end of April. It got lots of hype due to chef Julian Barsotti being the man behind the food, as he has been responsible for well regarded Nonna.  However if this is how he imagines the food of Rome to taste, he needs to visit there again. Overall it left a non-impression, as the flavors were mild in everything except the nice spicy pepper to sprinkle on your pizza. Portions are small and meant for sharing which makes it nice to have lots of bites of different things. Continue reading →

The Grape, Dallas, 8/6/16

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Exterior
Exterior

The Grape has been in business since 1972 with the current owners Brian and Courtney Luscher taking over in 2007. Brian is the chef and Courtney is the manager and sommelier. The business has grown enough that couple is not always in house but Chef Sarah Snow runs the kitchen directed by Brian’s culinary vision. It has a medium sized main room, a smaller added on room in the back, a good sized bar and a plastic enclosed porch for street side dining. The menu has a selection of standards that are always available, some in half portions as well as monthly specials.  Many of the standards are very nice but I like the seasonly adjusted new options that are available. Continue reading →