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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Dallas
Originally a city of cattle and stockyards, Dallas has recently relinquished its cowboy roots in favor of world-class culture, emerging as a new favorite among travelers looking for a mix of gracious Southwestern charm and big-city spoils. Already oversized, the "Big D" just keeps on growing, with the arrival of new, high-profile museums, luxury hotels, and restaurants that have moved beyond yesterday's Lone Star, Tex-Mex fare to serve innovative, multi-star-rated cuisine.
Attractions & Activities Although Dallas has plenty of walkable neighborhoods and the DART light-rail system, which runs north to south and is useful for getting around Downtown, the city's sprawl means that this is a driving city, and most visitors rent a car. Three years ago, real estate mogul-cum art collector Raymond Nasher opened his world-renowned sculpture collection to the public. The airy Renzo Piano—designed Nasher Sculpture Center, the new anchor of Dallas's burgeoning Arts District, displays an encyclopedic collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century sculpture. Highlights include Richard Serra's 14-foot-tall steel installation My Curves Are Not Mad and Rodin's Eve (214-242-5100; nashersculpturecenter.org). The city's most established venue, the Dallas Museum of Art, has extensive permanent holdings ranging from ancient and pre-Columbian pieces to post-1945 modernist paintings and sub-Saharan African art (214-922-1200; dallasmuseumofart.org). For a boutique museum experience, the Rachofsky House, in the Richard Meier—designed former home of art collectors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, displays an enviable assemblage of modern and contemporary works such as the recent exhibit of Damien Hirst's infamous formaldehyde jars (214-373-3157; rachofskyhouse.org). Art lovers should do the one-hour drive to Fort Worth and make a pilgrimage to its two heavy-hitting museums. Designed by Louis Kahn, the Kimbell Art Museum is a dramatic, vaulted structure that maximizes natural light in the galleries. It's known for hosting top international exhibitions, including the recent "Gauguin and Impressionism" (817-332-8451; kimbellart.org). Just opposite the Kimbell, Tadao Ando's strikingly minimalist Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth opened to rave reviews in 2002. Its glass-walled galleries, surrounded by a shimmering one-and-a-half-acre pond, showcase post-war artists such as Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol (817-738-9215; themodern.org). Dallas will forever be linked with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and the city pays tribute to the national tragedy with Philip Johnson's John F. Kennedy Memorial. Located just 200 yards from the site of the shooting, this large cenotaph, or empty tomb, provides a forum for contemplation and remembrance. Thirty-five years after the memorial opened, it remains the city's most popular attraction. For those looking to continue the Kennedy circuit, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza hosts a wide array of relevant exhibits on subjects ranging from Jack Ruby to Jackie O (214-747-6660; jfk.org). Shopping is a serious pastime in Dallas, and America's first shopping center, Highland Park Village, has been a staple of the city's famed, high-end consumption culture for the past 75 years. The boldfaced set comes here for benefit and country club essentials from St. John, Hermès, Chanel, Escada, and others (hpvillage.com). Nearby, on the North Central Expressway, is NorthPark Center, one of the world's first large-scale shopping malls. It is currently undergoing a two-year, $200 million renovation that will add a Barneys New York flagship store by the fall of 2006 (northparkcenter.com). Farther north, on I-635, is the Dallas Galleria, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar facelift and now includes popular chain stores as well as designer boutiques (dallasgalleria.com). Although it's a shopping mall town through and through, Dallas is just beginning to embrace the independent-boutique trend. An apothecary, jewelry atelier, and clothing store all under one roof, Forty Five Ten has becomes the city's designer destination. Owner Shelly Musselman stocks unique creations from Yohji Yamamoto, Roland Mouret, and Marni and is always available to give dead-on personal style tips (4510 McKinney Ave.; 214-599-4510). Dallas's newest and most buzzed-about area, Uptown (adjacent to Downtown), has stylish multiple-use complexes such as West Village (3699 McKinney Ave.; westvil.com) and the nearby Mockingbird Station, where the Angelika Film Center screens eclectic independent productions (5465 E. Mockingbird Lane; mockingbirdstation.com). The far-north sister to these two complexes is the Shops at Legacy, which is also home to several of the city's top restaurants (7200 Bishop Rd.; shopsatlegacy.com). Lodging Dallas has plenty of overnight options for travelers, and three hotels rank on Condé Nast Traveler’s Gold List: the Hotel Crescent Court, a French-inspired manse in uptown, within walking distance of art museums and shopping areas; the Mansion on Turtle Creek, in the Italian Renaissance—style former home of a cotton baron, in a quiet residential area; and just out of town in the suburb of Irving and a few minutes from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the Spanish colonial Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, on 400 landscaped acres. For a new and ultra-hip alternative, Uptown’s ZaZa Hotel is the city’s premier small hotel. It has 16 concept suites, including Erotica, Art, Metropolitan, and the Austin Powers—worthy Shag-a-delic, complete with lava lamps and psychedelic throw pillows. Dragonfly, the chic restaurant-bar, attracts a trendy clientele of well-coiffed hipsters that lend it a big-city air. Sumptuous Dallas glamour reigns at the Hôtel St. Germain, which is set in a historic 1906 home. The property has just seven suites—all kitted out with luxury amenities such as canopied feather beds—and maintains an intimate atmosphere. Dining In recent years, the dining scene has gone way beyond Tex-Mex joints and steak houses. Today, Dallas attracts top celebrity chefs such as Nobu Matsuhisa, whose haute sushi spot, Nobu, is perennially booked (400 Crescent Ct.; 214-252-7000; entrées, $15-$40). At Abacus, chef-owner Kent Rathbun plays with a slew of seemingly disparate cuisines, from Mediterranean to Cajun, and the frequently changing menu might include seared ostrich with basil gnocchi or crispy duck breast with a tequila-lime sauce and chipotle cheese grits (4511 McKinney Ave.; 214-559-3111; entrées, $35-$48). Homegrown chef Stephan Pyles has spent the bulk of his restaurant career preaching the Southwestern food gospel throughout the country. In 2005, he returned to his roots and opened his namesake Stephan Pyles restaurant, which includes the now de rigueur tapas bar, serving updated Southwestern dishes such as the lobster in coconut-serrano broth with Guatemalan black bean mash and the coriander-cured rack of lamb with Ecuadorian potato cake. Pyles proves that you can mix couture and cowboy boots (1807 Ross Ave.; 214-580-7000; entrées, $24-$38). Local chef Nick Badovinus helms Hibiscus, one of Dallas's premier restaurants. Beloved by gourmets, scenesters, and celebs alike, it has a small menu of well-conceived, Asian-inspired dishes—such as prime tenderloin pot stickers with pineapple ponzu sauce and rare slices of tuna over a salad of seaweed and soba noodles—along with simply grilled, prime cuts of meat. The bar in back doubles as a nightclub of sorts, with a crowd of beautiful people who sip from a lineup of sophisticated signature cocktails, like the Hibiscus Cooler—a champagne, watermelon puree, and hibiscus tea mix (2927 Henderson Ave.; 214-827-2927; entrées, $27-$44). In an elegant hacienda in exclusive Highland Park, Javier's is the place for authentic gourmet Mexican. In addition to its legendary sweet green salsa, the restaurant prepares delicious goat-meat fajitas and shrimp (4912 Cole Ave.; 214-521-4211; entrées, $17-$27). For Tex-Mex, locals head to Chuy's Tex Mex, a cheery spot with an Elvis fountain and a jukebox. Pair a margarita with favorites such as "Banditos" (fried tortillas stuffed with cheese and peppers) and tortilla soup (4544 McKinney Ave.; 214-559-2489; entrées, $6-$11). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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