“When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, You can always go downtown. When you’ve got worries,
all the noise and the hurry seems to help, I know, downtown.”

In all the change that the Downtown Dallas neighborhood is experiencing, there has been a lot of positive news about dining and hospitality. Recently, Westin announced a brand new hotel with 326 guest rooms, including a 3,000-square-foot penthouse. If you know the Westin brand, you know it means luxury, comfort and modern touches. The Westin Dallas Downtown is no different. Led by the same design team as ‘The Joule’ down the street, the Westin is truly a beautiful environment with ‘living walls’, huge picture windows and awesome decor.

I was recently invited in to try Grill & Vine, the hotel restaurant. It’s a reinterpretation of the classic bar and grill designed in a tavern style. The casual, yet upscale, menu offers American cuisine and traditional favorites with a modern spin. The menu also focuses on locally sourced items and simple, light and fresh foods to support wellness. I really enjoyed the playful classics from Chef William Lundstrom and great wine and cocktail program.

We sampled a couple of the signature dishes from Chef Lundstrom through the evening. My favorites happened to be the ‘Smoked Beef Brisket Tacos’, a nod to southwestern cuisine with pickled onions, smashed avocados and bravos valley queso. We also tried a pepper seared ahi steak with jicama slaw and black beens as well as a pork chop with apples, pancetta served with a house mac & cheese. The interesting  and well thought wine pairings made all the difference and its nice to see a hotel wine program really step up to the palate of Dallas diners preference.

Dessert brought a Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with traditional creme anglaise and orange caramel. It was really well done with notes of citrus and savory. Just the way I like it! So, if you’re downtown and in need of a great meal and maybe a place to rest after … head to Grill & Vine and Westin Dallas Downtown!