Top Chef’s New Dallas Chinese Restaurant and Late Night Ramen Hangout Transform a Reborn Hotel

Angela Hernandez, former chef at Top Knot (which shuttered in January after two years, then reopened just weeks later as Uchiba), has a new post at The Statler hotel’s Fine China restaurant. And now, Fine China is finally opening its doors today, Tuesday, July 10.

Hernandez’s much-anticipated American-Chinese menu features four main sections: dim sum (i.e. grilled shishito peppers, fried chili prawns, duck confit croquetas), cold dishes (smacked cucumbers, Wagyu beef tartare, sesame kale salad), rice & noodles (black garlic noodles, egg fried rice), and large dishes (wok-fried crab omelet, sizzled black cod, eggplant mapo tofu, etc…)

Her menu is designed to be communal (Fine China has the largest communal table in Dallas, with room for a whopping 28 people), and clearly reflects her passion for Chinese cooking, French culinary training, and Southern upbringing.

The food isn’t the only visual feast inside the upscale Asian gastropub: On view from the dining room is a duck oven, where the Cantonese duck is roasted before it’s served with a peach hoisin barbecue sauce and house-made steamed buns.

If you first come to Fine China for the food, return to experience its high-tea service for which beverage director Kyle Hilla hand selects imported, loose-leaf teas (green, oolong, shou puerh).

Hilla’s also created craft iced teas and clever cocktails, including the Pitch Black (gin, suze, elderflower, lemon, and activated charcoal) and the — oh my! — Suffering Bastard concoction of rum, gin, aperol, grapefruit, ginger ale, and Angostura bitters.

Ramen and Bao

If you’re in the mood for more fast-casual dining, Hernandez and chef de cuisine Josh Bonee are concurrently debuting R&B next door to Fine China. The space, which has limited seating and a standing counter, is only open for lunch crowds and night owls (its hours run Mondays through Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 9 pm to 4 am).

As its moniker suggests, R&B focuses on ramen and bao — Chinese steamed buns stuffed with meat and/or veggies. We suggest snacking on the cheesebao-ger topped with American cheese, Bread & Butter pickles, and onion jam.

Fine China and R&B are the newest concepts from Epic Food & Beverage, which also operates Statler restaurants Scout, Waterproof, Overeasy, and Bourbon & Banter.

Fina China and R&B are both at The Statler hotel, 1914 Commerce St.