12 OctOber 30 - NOvember 5, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents I n 2018, Michael Dell’s company bought the block; well, most of it. Dell is the world’s 10th rich- est person with a net worth of $151 billion. The Dallas Morning News re- ported at the time that the deal was estimated to be worth $250 million and included a massive development in the Knox-Henderson area. Con- struction started in 2023 and is ex- pected to be completed in 2026. New skybound buildings will eventually include three towers on a 4-acre (ish) site. The luxury Au- berge Resorts will operate the Knox Hotel and Residences. There will also be a 27-story multifamily build- ing with over 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. In the shadow of this new build- ing, with cranes swinging above, Café Madrid sits like a stubborn bull being taunted by a matador. But it’s not even flinching. However, eschewing these suitors wasn’t easy. When MSD Capital first bought the property, they showed up at Café Madrid often. “When the Dell people came in, I was, once again, very open and honest with them. I told them I make a really good liv- ing. There is nothing that I want to do right now that I can’t already do,” she says. Short of one thing: Jimenez is very strong in her faith and sees her restaurant as a ministry, as a welcoming space for ev- eryone, and more directly with the non- profits she works with. She provides a space for single women to learn to cook through Buckner Family Pathways and also works with Brother Bill’s Helping Hands and Exodus Ministries. Jimenez tells a story of a vision she had about 10 years ago while visiting her family ranch near Pilot Point. “I literally had this vision of building the ranch into a women’s ministry, part-time, like a retreat,” she says. “I want to take these women and their children to the ranch, have a weekend, let them have fun, let them ride horses, swim and take some life-skills classes.” So the next time the Dell group showed up at her doorstep, wondering what it would take to get this modest two-story white build- ing, she told them, “‘God has sent y’all here to give me the money I need to do this ministry because I can’t. It’s so much money.’ There’s no way I could do it on my own,” she says. They were interested and told her to get a bid. She hired an architect and a devel- oper. Months later, she presented them with the final number. At this point in the story, Jimenez gets almost giddy. She shows them the plans and the cost. “They said, ‘We’ll never pay that,’” she says with that big laugh again. “I said, ‘OK, then I have no in- centive to leave.’ Because I’m not going to. We all need a purpose in life. And right now, this is my pur- pose in life.” Café Madrid is humming on a lovely Saturday evening. A flock of parakeets circles the trees near the restaurant as diners order plates of lamb and cheese and sip from pitch- ers of sangria. Thankfully, the mas- sive construction project next door doesn’t affect the experience at the restaurant, save for cars bouncing through the disheveled street in front. Michael Dell bought a lot of the property in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood, but Donica Jimenez saved its soul. ▼ RESTAURANTS MILLIONAIRE MONARCHS THE BURGEONING LOCAL FOOD SCENE HAS MADE DALLAS A WEALTHY FOODIE DESTINATION. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS D ined in Uptown lately? It’s always been a scene, but with a few new up- scale restaurants, like Nuri and Avra, it’s now high-stakes theater. The valet stands are luxury car shows. From the $20 million buildout at the steakhouse Nuri to $68 for 1 ounce of A5 Kobe beef at CATCH, Dallas knows how to fancy up dinner and get there in style. And the word is spreading. First, Reservations Earlier this year, we reported that the site Love Food looked for the most expensive restaurants in every state and found two in Dallas: Tatsu and Monarch. Now, a new report from Wander, a luxury concierge travel platform, reveals the ultra- wealthy are looking for hyper-exclusive travel in 2026, and Dallas ranks No. 7 on the list of destinations. And it’s in large part be- cause of the dining scene. The report high- lights North Texas’ 23 Michelin-recognized restaurants, including the one-starred Tatsu. Access to private airports and heliports, 14 in all, also pushes Dallas up high on the list. Wander used a report from Henley and Partners on centi-millionaires as the seed list, then analyzed U.S. hotspots, factoring in amenities that define luxury travel. Think private aviation access, members-only Plati- num Clubs of America, Michelin-recog- nized dining and five-star spa hotels. Naturally, New York City is atop the lux- ury travel list. Los Angeles is second, fol- lowed by Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, DC then Dallas. Interestingly, Las Vegas is not on the list, perhaps because the city doesn’t have a Michelin Guide. Houston and Austin are 11th and 12th on the list, respec- tively. High-Profile Openings “From our index, Dallas seems to be an up- and-coming location for luxury foodies, with already 23 Michelin-recommended restaurants despite only receiving the Mi- chelin Guide last year. The city currently of- fers the most expensive meal on average, at $91 per person,” says Matt Kowalewski, chief of staff at Wander. Since the pandemic, Dallas has become a middle-coast beacon for high-profile restau- rants: Carbone from New York City opened in the Design District; Michelin-starred Danny Grant concepts from Chicago (Monarch); Komodo, the Miami hotspot that expanded to Dallas; Delilah, a high-profile restaurant with locations in Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, will soon open in Dallas; and CATCH also recently opened in Uptown. The report found that American cuisine is the most common restaurant genre in the city, followed by Italian and French. “Among these standout restaurants is Monarch, offering stunning views from the 49th floor of The National,” Kowalewski says. “Mercat Bistro on Henderson Street, renowned for its luxurious setting, offers a more relaxed yet equally refined experience, Nathan Hunsinger Café culture is strong at Café Madrid, which offers sidewalk tables and tapas. City of Ate from p11 Her aunt knew a loan officer, and on the Monday before the Friday deadline to close, they got in touch. The president of Texas Se- curity Bank told her to meet him at her res- taurant with two years of financials. It was a jumbo loan, which can take weeks and more commonly, months, to finance. “This loan has to be funded by Friday. Money in the bank,” she remembers. “I met with him for two hours, he said my finan- cials look great and said, ‘I’ll fund your loan.’” She told him that it was sweet, but it had to be in the bank by 5 p.m. Friday. He told her he was the bank president, and he’d get it done. He did. Jimenez still had her patch of Spain in Dallas, her life’s work, the place where em- ployees had worked for decades and her three kids had been raised. Michael Dell Is Not From the Block Nathan Hunsinger Cafe Madrid offers a variety of delicious tapas.
