The September Hit List: Mister Charles, Petra and the Beast, Tinie’s, and More

Replacing the historic Highland Park Soda Fountain is Dallas’s newest, glitziest, ritziest place to enjoy the good life. From Duro Hospitality, the group that includes The Charles and Sister, Mister Charles continues pasta excellence in its dining room saturated with marble, leather, crystal chandeliers, and lush plants. The snail-shaped lumache pasta in spicy arrabiata sauce or pyramidal berlingot pasta stuffed with truffled duck make for indulgent primis before heading into lobster thermidor or a king-sized, prime rib eye. In a royal venue like this, desserts are in order, perhaps a baked Alaska served ablaze or an ultra-fancy ice cream sundae created to honor the history of the palatial new restaurant.

Reservations are in high demand, so best to set a Notify (and enable text messages) for openings during your preferred time slot.

Could a tiny restaurant with a tiny menu be one of the biggest dining surprises in Fort Worth’s cool Southside district? Opened the same day the first COVID case was confirmed in Tarrant County — March 10, 2020 — Tinie’s has become is a homey Mexico-City-inspired treasure that sustained itself during the pandemic with… carrots?

Yes. Topped with garlic crema and carrot top chimichurri, chef-owner Christian Lehrmann’s roasted carrots aren’t ordinary, of course, nor are his shrimp ceviche with mango nectar or aguachile de mahi-mahi with strawberries and jalapeño oil. The casita margarita with blanco Tequila, citrus syrup, and orange liqueur is also an unexpected showstopper. They taste even better on Mondays and Taco Tuesdays when they’re $8 all night long.

Namo was one of Dallas’s original Edomae-style sushi restaurants to feature a horseshoe-shaped bar with Tokyo-sourced fish when it opened five years ago. It’s also one of the few restaurants still standing in the West Village shopping center after a harrowing past few years. Owner Brandon Cohanim’s survival skills included a sharp digression from customary sushi service during the pandemic with takeout rolls and takeout omakase. Happily for Dallas, Namo continues with to-go sushi today for nights when there are guests to impress or just feel like an omakase in your stretchy pants at home. But now that social distancing is all behind us and the weather is cooling, isn’t it time to revisit one of the bar’s 16 seats or patio? We think so. Reservations are essential.

Take the remaining swelter of summer off in this dark, candlelit, palo santo-scented cavern where you may ask yourself existential questions, like: Am I in a Mesoamerican ceremonial ritual, or one of Bishop Arts’s most secluded hot spots? Ayahuasca Cantina, in the back of Xaman Cafe celebrated its third birthday last month, making it yet another restaurant to survive the fire of the pandemic. Here, you can have an encounter with sotol- and mezcal-based cocktails, Mexican wines, and mains like confit rabbit with wild mushrooms cradled in Totomoxtle, a biomaterial made from heirloom Mexican corn husks. Chef Hugo Galvan’s goal is to share traditional dishes with a contemporary touch that’s both respectful and creative. The bar team accomplishes this, as well, with drinks like the Birria-rita, a birria-infused Tequila with pineapple liqueur, and the Elotero mixed with Abasolo Mexican whisky, Nixta corn liqueur, and raicilla, Mexico’s original moonshine.

For 35 years, Kirin Court has been the Dallas area’s O.G. dim sum spot, with daily rolling carts until 2:30-ish. Upon sitting down at one of the traditional banquet tables, diners are immediately visited by real-life servers (instead of robots) pushing carts of steamed rice noodle rolls (cheung fun), barbecue pork buns, shrimp balls, egg custards, shrimp dumplings, and pan-fried taro cakes. The 45 dim sum items are as consistent as the brisk service. For those wanting cooked-to-order dishes, lunch specials include congees, pepper steak, moo shu pork, and many varieties of noodles, or there’s more than 150 other Cantonese specialities on the à la carte menu.

Pro tip: On weekends, plan to line-up shortly before the 10 a.m. opening to avoid long wait times.

Find more info here.

Gourmands-in-the-know know that Gemma is one of Dallas’s most enduring gems on busy Henderson Avenue. Since 2013, the neighborhood bistro has stood out with its irresistible, complimentary smoked Gouda and fig scones, as well as the braised rabbit pappardelle, the only main dish mainstay since it was added in the beginning (which is saying something). There’s also the first-rate, California-centric wine list by co-owner Allison Yoder, who’s in charge of beverages. She knows her stuff after working in wine country at St. Helena’s Press, where she was general manager and met her Dallas-born husband, Stephen Rogers, now Gemma’s co-owner and executive chef.

Important note: Gemma will pause service for a brief renovation beginning on September 10. Celebrate the revamp on September 19 with a Negroni and the addictive fried Castelvetrano olives mixed with hot Texas pecans.

Another pandemic restaurant baby is Nigerian-Texan chef Kevin Ashade’s first restaurant in Garland. After working in several hotel restaurants, starting a catering business, and beating Bobby Flay in 2016, Ashade opened Pangea just two months before the dining room became a takeout assembly station. Today, it’s bumping with “Chef Kev” fans hungry for West African suya skewers, gargantuan jerk-roasted lamb shanks, and plenty of Cajun and Creole classics, like seafood gumbo, blackened catfish with dirty rice, and a Cajun pot pie. You can also have the coq au vin that beat Flay, called the Have Merci! Weekend brunch is kicking, too, with brûléed French toast, shrimp and grits with andouille sausage, and boba mimosa flights.

Call 214.703.2222 for more info.

Since 2018, chef Misti Norris has been leading Dallasites to eat seasonal, farm-sourced, fermented magic on a plate with dishes presented as elegantly as anything served at Le Bernardin. Her restaurant Petra and the Beast, located two miles from the previous renovated gas station, is now in a larger, spiffed-up dining room better suited for showcasing her voodoo. Family-style portions include mains like a whole pig, including its ears, served five ways with buttered hominy and pickles. As always, menus will change every three weeks or so depending on what’s available from local farms. What’s new is a cocktail and wine list with most bottles less than $60.

After giving her staff time to find their groove with the à la carte menu, Norris will resume offering one of Dallas’s most spectacular tasting menus on Saturdays this month. Fridays are coming soon.

Call 214-484-2326 for more info.

Although some studies have shown hot teas and soups as the best way to cool down, there are those who prefer the opposite, no matter what the science says. After almost 50 days over 100 degrees (if you’ve stuck around this summer), you’re allowed to do what you want. At Homung, located in the H Mart shopping center in Carrollton, aka New Koreatown, you can have it both ways with hot or cold bowls of soup, like the mool naengmyeon, with thinly-sliced brisket and sweet potato flour noodles in icy beef broth. For a spicy version of the same, go with the bibim naengmyeon. Or, to trust the science with hot broths, order the bright red spicy brisket stew or homemade dumpling soup with baseball-sized beef, pork, and vegetable dumplings in the clarified house beef broth. Helping newcomers decide what to order are binders with laminated photos of each dish set on the tables.

Find more info here.

Considering how often Dallasites will drive 30 miles north to Frisco or Allen, Ruston Cattle Company in the other direction — and with less traffic — should be on the radar of steak-lovers tired of getting swindled in the city’s meat markets. Next to a John Deere tractor lot, and in a dining room that resembles a barn with chandeliers, slice into a 16-ounce wagyu rib eye for $54 or an eight-ounce smoked filet for $37. These prices include a side or heavily-loaded baked potato, too, which makes the feeling of being back in the good ol’ days alone worth the trip. Steak has always been associated with commemorating big events, so the Big Board, with that huge wagyu tomahawk, lobster, Gulf shrimp, and two sides for $225 makes a celebration possible without breaking the bank. If you’re unconvinced to make a dedicated drive, then mark it for your next trip to Houston.