How Dallas' Young Chefs Are Remaking its Dining Scene, in Their Own Words

Cover by Tracie Louck/Photo by Can Turkyilmaz

Rush Patisserie's Samantha Rush

The Dallas of 20 years ago exists only on the margins of the current culinary climate. There are more restaurants in this city than ever, and the focus of the chefs who run its best restaurants has shifted dramatically in the last five years. No longer is Dallas known for its decadent-but-boring steakhouses and the stuffy cuisine that goes with them. Before our eyes, this city's culinary scene has transformed into, dare we say, a worthy destination.

The rest of the country is starting to take notice. You can hardly throw a locally sourced radish without hitting a national magazine with Matt McCallister or Omar Flores on it. And rightfully so: These chefs' widely diverse backgrounds, cuisines and personalities have revitalized a sluggish restaurant scene and ushered Dallas into a new culinary era.

Over the past year, we've been asking these chefs what they think about Dallas' culinary renaissance, and how they've contributed to it. Here, alongside portraits from Can Turkyilmaz, we pull together their wisdom, to help paint a fuller picture of what's happening nightly in kitchens across the city. Most of the chefs in the following pages are part of Dallas' new guard, like up-and-comers Flores and Stephen Rogers, but there are a few stalwart voices in chefs like John Tesar and Brian Luscher, who are still here, helping a fledgling food scene find its way.

The Hoods
On the evolution of Dallas' best dining neighborhoods.

Andrew Bell, Bolsa: I think what started down here in Bishop Arts is Dallas' first true sense of community. The rest of the city has kind of taken note as to what you can do with a neighborhood that is coming up, and how to re-think an already established neighborhood when you go forward with building infrastructure. The people who live and work there build a sense of community, and then the people who aren't there want to come down to Bishop Arts and see what is going on.

Stephen Rogers, Gemma: It was a gamble coming here to Knox/Henderson. A lot of people said that we were out of our minds. This strip on Knox/Henderson is so centrally located when you think about it -- Highland Park, University Park, Lakewood and downtown are all just a stone's throw away. Then there are all these new apartments being built in Uptown. The beginnings of change were already happening when we got here, but maybe the restaurants before us were here too early.

Brian Luscher, The Grape: I'm an East Dallas guy. When I first moved here in 1996, I lived at the corner of Ross and Greenville, and I work on Greenville Avenue. I just love this neighborhood, I believe in East Dallas. There is opportunity in East Dallas. People keep their money in East Dallas, and there's still value in real estate here. Look at what the boys at Goodfriend did. There's obviously desire there. Look at Lowest Greenville and the rebirth that's going on there. The luster will come back to Greenville Avenue that it once had 50 or 60 years ago. Henderson Avenue used to be Shady O'Grady; people never wanted to drive there at night. Now it might be overdeveloped.

Omar Flores, Casa Rubia: Right now, Trinity Groves is kind of like a construction zone of restaurants, but if you know what's going on here in the next couple of years, it's really exciting for the neighborhood. They're building more restaurants, hotels, apartment complexes, an amphitheater. So it's going to be a really cool place. When I first moved to Dallas, the only reason you came down here was to buy a gun at Ray's Sporting Goods. Other than that, you stayed away from this area. But the developers are sinking some serious coin into it, so it's going to be a badass spot.

John Tesar, Knife/Spoon: The growth in Dallas is exciting. It's great. The only thing that's kind of screwing things up right now is that Trinity Groves thing. I don't think it's screwing up business for anybody, but it does kind of pull the wool over people's eyes, I think. They own the concepts if you succeed. It does give opportunity to people who may not have been able to open a restaurant on their own, but to me, the whole thing seems like a good way to get people out there to eat so they can level it and build skyscrapers 10 years from now. It's a very ingenious project, and it has merit, but I want to see the politics of it, and who it really benefits.

Jon Stevens, Stock & Barrel: I personally think that there is a very artistic presence in Bishop Arts, hence the name. Already those people are going to be more open-minded, and when you bring in foodie-type restaurants, people are going to support that. I come from San Francisco, and there are a lot of neighborhoods like this. I think that's part of why Bishop Arts resonates with me. It has that same kind of feel. Everybody knows each other, and everyone's got each other's backs.

---

Over It
Restaurant "things" chefs are so done with.

Andrew Bell, Bolsa: I have no place to tell people what they should put on their menu. I'm not the food police. I don't go to the chain restaurants, so most of the places I'm going, the things on their menu, I want to eat. I eat pretty much everything. I'm not crazy about cream cheese, and I don't eat a lot of natto, but outside of that, I'll eat it.

Kirstyn Brewer, Victor Tangos: Truffle oil. I hate it. That's the only thing. I used it a lot, and I think I probably just burned myself out on it. Whatever, I'm not snobby about the concept of it -- I don't care. It's everywhere, and I love truffles, but truffle oil is so overpowering. Even just a drop of it takes over the flavor of a whole dish.

Brian Luscher, The Grape: The number one thing that drives me apeshit is going to a steakhouse where I've got to put on a jacket and pay $85 for a steak that comes out and it's bullshit. When I'm going to one of these "nicer" places (air quotes for added sarcasm), I don't think they're cooking steaks to culinary temperature standards. When I say I want a medium-rare steak, it's really more like medium-well in these restaurants.

Brian Zenner, Oak: Bread service. That one pains me sometimes. It's this begrudging thing, and I feel like I don't always want you to eat half a loaf of bread when you're about to eat my dinner. It's not my choice. We choose to do bread service. At the Mansion, they have little demi baguettes, and I always thought that should be it. That's all you get. That's the fun part of having bread at your table, not just gorging on it. I applaud places like Gemma that do something more interesting than just handing out bread, but maybe we don't need it.

---