Our 4 Favorite New Dallas Restaurants Right Now — What To Order at Élephante, Docent Steak, and Other Hot Spots

From Wish You Were Here Group (a multi-concept hospitality group based in West Hollywood, California), Élephante is a Los Angeles-based Italian coastal restaurant that’s opened at 23Springs in Uptown Dallas. It occupies a two-story stand-alone space at the new office building and features an indoor-outdoor design. The showstopper of the interior is a suspended canopy of illuminated wine bottles above a sculptural oak and stone centerpiece bar. The menu includes wood-fired pizzas, house-made pastas, entrees, and more. During a recent dinner visit (they also have lunch and brunch), we were pleasantly surprised by just how solid everything we ordered was. Consistency is key.

What To Order:

• Whipped Eggplant with puccia — giant fluffy bread you actually don’t need to ask for more of
• Big Eye Tuna Tartare with Calabrian aioli, tangerine, and carta di musica
• Grilled Octopus — a mix of hearts of palm, olives, capers, tangerine, and red onion
• Vodka Sauce pasta is the most popular dish at Élephante, so we ordered it and the Gemelli Scampi. Both were delicious, but the squid ink pasta with shrimp was my favorite
• Another surprising and delightful dish: Iberico Pork Pluma Tagliata with aged balsamic, cauliflower puree, apple cider glaze, and baby kale
• My husband and I also ate every last bite of the pistachio sundae with vanilla soft serve, caramelized phyllo, pistachio caramel, pistachio marshmallow, and honeycomb, if that tells you anything about that one

Harwood Hospitality’s latest concept, Docent Steak, is a two-story restaurant with a main dining room upstairs and a more casual lounge area downstairs. It’s located in the District’s Kengo Kuma-designed Harwood No. 14 building and features more than 100 pieces from the Barbier-Mueller family’s collection of art and cultural objects (who own Harwood International). The food menu centers around Harwood’s exclusive beef program, HWD Beef, and also offers some Kobe beef options. We just attended a soft opening at the steakhouse where we tasted dishes from a limited menu. These are the bites that stood out to us during this first visit.

What To Order:

• Spicy Tuna Tartare — the favorite of the evening, this cold appetizer comes with togarashi cotton candy that is blended into the tartare dish, with a peanut ponzu poured over a mixture of avocado and sesame, with wontons on the side
• A second cold app we loved was the deviled eggs with pork belly jam, puffed rice, and chives
• 8-ounce filet mignon cooked perfectly when we asked for medium temperature. All cuts at Docent are aged for a minimum of 28 days, broiled, finished with tallow butter, and served with steak sauce
• If you like sweet potato, order the side at Docent. You’ll be eating leftovers of this massive baked potato for a couple of days after
• For dessert, the Devil’s Food Cake is also absolutely massive and decadent. It comes with a scoop of vanilla gelato and hot fudge if you want even more decadence

In 2024, Canadian hospitality group JOEY Restaurants debuted its first Dallas outpost of the concept at NorthPark Center. Now, the second Dallas location of JOEY is open in Uptown, and it’s just as stunning as the shopping center’s. The interior design centers around an indoor/outdoor environment with a skylight and perimeter operable windows. The menu features an assortment of cuisines, including sushi, steaks, burgers, and more.

What To Order:

• I never thought my favorite dish at a restaurant would be the hummus, but at JOEY Maple, it is. The starter comes with tzatziki, dill, olives, sweet drop peppers, and crispy pita for dipping
• Korean Fried Cauliflower with a sweet and spicy Korean chili glaze, pickled fresnos, and watermelon radish
• Exclusive to this new location, the Ahi Tuna Duo Roll is a must-order, along with the favorite Seared Salmon Sushi
• You can’t go wrong with the JOEY Classic Steak. I got the 8-ounce filet mignon, and it comes with these loaded crispy mashed potatoes that are hard to describe, so just order them
• Another devoured dessert by me and my husband, the Baked Apple Pie is a can’t-miss. And I don’t know if this is a Canadian thing, but it reminded me more of a toaster strudel with its lighter pastry crust. It also comes with a scoop of Tahitian vanilla ice cream on top

This new Mediterranean restaurant in East Dallas comes from Turkish natives, husband-and-wife Kenan and Melike Turan. The inside of this hole-in-the-wall (and I’m saying this because the outside is unassuming) is pretty and cozy. Warm hospitality felt like a top priority here, as the owners often checked in on us to make sure everything was great. It sort of felt like we were dining in The Turan’s home, in a good way. The kitchen is led by Chef Tuna Patiroglu, with a menu that features hot and cold mezze, meats and fish cooked on an ocakbasi grill, pides baked in a stone oven, and desserts.

What To Order:

• Mezze Trio — we chose the Muhammara, Pink Sultan, and Whipped Cyprus Feta, and all were delicious and came with pita
• Salmon Shish with charcoal-grilled salmon skewers comes with sides of rice, bread, and salad. There’s a citrus olive oil sauce that is completely addictive
• The Grassfed Lamb Chops were another hit at our table, served with a herb butter, rice, warm bread, grilled peppers, and tomatoes
• The Traditional Cheese Pide — a stone-baked Turkish flatbread layered with melted Turkish cheese is another must-order. It’s self-explanatory.
• End your meal with the Turkish Coffee Tiramisu — Savoiardi ladyfingers layered with sabayon cream, Turkish coffee, and Rum Liquor, with pistachios crumbled on top