Restaurants in Dallas

Widely known as one of the architects of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles, the much-loved native of West Texas, returned to the Dallas dining scene with a roar after taking a sabbatical for extensive food study around the world. Quickly, his namesake restaurant was hailed the nation's best by Esquire magazine, thanks to such 'New Millennium Southwestern cuisine' features as a tasting of exotic ceviches, duck confit empanadas, wood-fired whole fish, and coriander-cured rack of lamb. Special drinks include Pisco Sour and smoky-apple Martini. A lovely update of a 1960s office building provides a warm, inviting setting in which to feast.

It is impossible to ignore the front table laden with lavish sweets. A hefty wedge of Venezuelan chocolate truffle cake is highly recommended, perhaps after savouring the grilled Argentinian-style Picanha steak with chimichurri mojo or the Brazilian-style roasted chicken bathed in champagne and juice from green oranges. The divine mint-spiked mojito cocktail is the best in town, while the warm setting and leisurely pace are soothing.

A long-time hangout in Uptown, this wonderful spot only gets better with age. The Sunday brunch is heavenly, but any day of the week is perfect for top-rate margaritas and a plate of the delicious tacos camperos filled with beef fajita meat. Pile on jalapeno, cilantro , a slice of avocado and a spoonful of the tomato salsa on the table. It's a good spot to take a break from shopping; relax on the patio or in one of the rooms inside the hundred-year-old building with creaky wooden floors.

This is certainly not the usual pizza joint, but it's where you'll find spectacular pizzas. Inside a handsome, casual stone-and-wood building, you'll find a hip crowd hanging out over starters, wine and pies. Pizzas are baked in a wood-burning oven, topped with a fire-roasted tomato sauce, liberally garnished with four kinds of cheese, then decorated with such add-ons as meatballs, balsamic-roasted chicken, truffle oil and rocket salad. Weather permitting, the patio is divine.

Satiny cuts of prime beef head the list of palate pleasures at this clubby, leather-and-polished wood corner of luxury. Clientele typically includes the expense-account business crowd and the moneyed gentry who enjoy supping on said steaks, as well as luscious crab fishcakes, fresh fish and enormous à la carte side dishes that could be meals in themselves. Lavish evenings end with brandy and a cigar.

Best Sunday Brunch in Dallas, in the ornate 1925 version of a 16th-century Italian villa built by cotton magnate Sheppard King as his family home. The personal collection of hunting trophies, paintings and lithographs belonging to the hotel's matriarch, Caroline Rose Hunt, decorates the restaurant and bar. Champagne brunch is a mixture of delicate flavours and exquisitely presented dishes in the old-world elegance of the Rosewood Mansion. Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek