16 August 14 - 20, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents million. One look around is all it takes to confirm the results are exquisite. Nuri’s owner Wan Kim is also the CEO of Smoothie King, but Nuri’s aim is much higher, an up- scale steakhouse with Korean influences that reflect Kim’s heritage. Steaks from Oklahoma’s Blue Branch Ranch, Texas’ HeartBrand and 44 Farms are all over the menu, and those Korean influences sparkle in appetizers like crab cakes with gojujang or Korean gumbo. Steaks and seafood land on more traditional flavors, but sides circle back with Asian influences like kimchi fried rice or unagi Brussels sprouts. In the 2025 list of World’s Best Steak Restaurants, only Nuri and the since-shuttered Dallas location of Knife made the list from the Dallas area. Stillwell’s 2575 McKinnon St., Downtown One of Dallas’ newest steakhouses, Still- well’s sits on the seventh floor of the Hotel Swexan and offers lovely downtown views from their mid-century-inspired dining room. The wine and cocktail programs are impressive, as is the fare. Tempura lobster tail and deviled eggs were noteworthy on our visit, and the steaks are all aged a mini- mum of 28 days. There are classic cuts like filets, a mammoth 42-ounce tomahawk rib- eye, and Akaushi beef locally raised for the Harwood restaurant group. If beef isn’t striking your fancy, Stillwell’s has perhaps the broadest range of non-steak entries of any steakhouse. Service, as it seems with any Harwood concept, never fails to impress. The Saint 2633 Gaston Ave., Deep Ellum Tucked away in a discreet spot on Gaston Av- enue, The Saint is an Italian-inspired steak- house from Las Vegas-based Hooper Hospitality Concepts. Before dismissing them as an out-of-town interloper, you should know that The Saint focuses on sourc- ing ingredients from the Texas farming and ranching community. We approve. The Ital- ian themes are strong across The Saint’s menu, and the steaks, the majority sourced from Wagyu-X Ranch in Midlothian, im- pressed us. There are 10 signature cocktails to imbibe, and a wine list that notably expands offerings outside the usual steakhouse heavy cabernets and zinfandels. The Saint also promises a touch of seasonality with a menu that will evolve throughout the year. Town Hearth 1617 Market Center Blvd., Design District In his original review of Town Hearth, former Dallas Observer critic Brian Rein- hart said it best: “It’s fun as hell.” Nick Ba- dovinus’ signature steakhouse offers big, bold Dallas-levels of high jinks, with big, bold dishes to match. Instead of building a masculine steakhouse, Town Hearth takes the masculinity to a place that borders on kitsch (yes, the Ducati motorcycle is still on the menu). Steaks are either wet-aged for a minimum of 28 days or dry-aged for 45, but we’ve never been served a steak that wasn’t cooked perfectly to order. Add in a festive cocktail program and a wine list of bottles from modest to mama mia, and it’s easy to see why Town Hearth re- mains one of our favorite tributes to over- the-top Dallas excess. Y.O. Ranch 702 Ross Ave., Downtown Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse is the most Texas es- tablishment on our list, with exposed brick, ironwork and antler chandeliers that set an unmistakable vibe as soon as you enter the dining room. The steaks are all USDA prime, cut in-house, and seafood options are mod- est but delicious (the chicken-fried lobster has its own cult following). No other steak- house in Dallas leans as hard into wild game, with options like elk, venison and buffalo holding regular menu spots. Y.O. Steakhouse is also an uncommon steakhouse with a lunch service, with lunch options like sand- wiches and salads that hit on all cylinders. Lunch is ideal if you want big Texas flavors without flattening your wallet. ▼ CHEFS GREENS ON THE ROOF HERB N JUNGLE IS THE SHERATON HOTEL’S URBAN OASIS GROWING FRESH INGREDIENTS USED IN COCKTAILS AND MENUS. BY AAREN PRODY E ach morning at around 6 a.m., chef Vin- cent Chueng, aka chef Vinnie, makes his way to the Sheraton Hotel’s fourth- floor rooftop to tend to his collection of thriv- ing plants in the heart of downtown Dallas. He’s been a chef under Marriott Interna- tional for decades, and has spent that time traveling around the U.S. opening hotels and reviving others, like the most recent W Ho- tel Dallas. When he took on his executive sous chef role at the Sheraton Hotel, the rooftop gar- den was just a shell of what it once was, and over the last two years, he’s nurtured it back into a tiny, thriving microcosm. Fittingly, the space is now the “Herb N’ Jungle” and serves as just a fraction of Sheraton’s entire focus on promoting local culture and sus- tainability. The Herb N’ Jungle is a regenerative gar- den that boasts a diverse array of plants thriving in the brutal Texas heat, including fig trees, rosemary, four different kinds of basil, hibiscus, tomatoes, peach trees, lemon trees, and a variety of peppers, including Carolina Reapers. The garden features both perennial and annual plants, so while some have been fruiting for years, others are only picked during the harvest season and are either swapped out or replanted. As one develops a green thumb over the years, experimentation becomes inevitable, and chef Vinnie has slowly started to see what he can introduce into the Sheraton kitchen. This year, he sourced a hybrid pine- apple sage from Waxahachie and bought five wasabi plants to see if he could success- fully harvest them in two years. Wasabi is notoriously hard to grow and does not grow naturally in the U.S. It re- quires consistent temperature, shade and other very specific environmental condi- tions. Plus, it’s very susceptible to disease. He’s nearly certain he’s the only chef in Dal- las attempting to grow his own wasabi (and he’s likely right). If successful, the Sheraton kitchen will be one of Dallas’ rare spots you can get true wasabi, and not the dyed horseradish alter- native. Tens of thousands of bees are the newest residents of the fourth-floor garden. Annually, they produce around a gallon of pure, unfil- tered honey. The most recent harvest inspired a collaboration with Sheraton and Manhattan Project Beer Co. to create the House Honey Lager. These crisp, clean and subtle honey notes can be tasted on tap at Sheraton Dallas’ restaurants and bars: Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, Open Palette and The Parlor. On past menus, the same honey has been used in the hotel’s chicken and waffles with chipotle hot honey and a honey cake with rosewater cream. The garden’s success gives chef Vinnie a lot of wiggle room to come up with creative recipes when everything is harvested in early summer. You never know what the harvest will bring to the restaurant menu, but you can guarantee some ingredients will have a spot- light during the Mixology Monday cocktail class inside The Parlor, Sheraton’s upscale cocktail lounge. If it’s not being grown upstairs, it’s likely sourced from local farms and purveyors like Dallas Mozzerella Co., Starship Bagels, Empire Baking, Cedar Ridge Egg Farm, Brazos Valley Cheese and others across the city and state. Soon, plans are underway to revamp the entire upstairs garden, spruce up the walk- ways, and make the pallet boxes deeper. Even- tually, they want to add a greenhouse-type protection since the summer’s strong winds impact the health of the growing season. In the coming weeks, a new menu at Open Palette will debut, featuring many in- gredients from Herb N’ Jungle. The new menu leans heavily into Texas roots with more meat and barbecue served with house-made sauces using the harvested peppers. And just so you know- he knows exactly how to mute that Carolina Reaper perfectly in a new aioli that may get a little screentime on the next menu. Open Palette (inside Sheraton Hotel), 400 Olive St., Sunday - Thursday, 6:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Saturday/Sunday, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Aaren Prody In our next life, we want to be reincarnated as Chef Vinnie’s thriving basil plant. City of Ate from p15
