Savor and Relish are still on track to open in late September, and things inside the glass-encased gastropub portion of the venue are really shaping up since Nancy Nichols’ initial visit last month. We recently joined Chef John Coleman, Executive Sous Chef Joe Scigliano, and other F2M Hospitality employees for a hardhat media tour of the evolving space to see the progress in person.
Construction barrier walls still shroud the glass venue from the eyes of park visitors, but once inside, it’s clear that the restaurant is nearing completion. The kidney-shaped bar, which Coleman relates to “a glowing iceberg,” has been fitted with its various accouterments of glass and LED lights and will soon receive its leather edge wrapping. The unique keg wall is impressively materializing along the lounge-facing backside of a part of the restaurant that Coleman likes to call “the factory”—a stainless-steel encasement of the aforementioned wall, guest-use bathroom facilities, and the partially open kitchen.
Plans for the keg wall and its components have been strategized alongside its construction, and Savor plans to offer eight varietals of red and eight varietals of white on tap in addition to 12 draft beers. By the bottle, Savor will offer 20 red and 20 white varietals and 10 beers. The wine list doesn’t stop there, however; Coleman also plans to include a “Wines With A Story” section that includes additional selections that hold special sentimental or personal historic value to Coleman and his colleagues. Price point is key behind the entire wine, beer, and cocktails offering at Savor, with Coleman hoping to keep prices around $10 a glass—a reality made possible through the use of 26-bottle wine kegs that save close to 40,000 bottles a year without sacrificing quality.
Coleman says customer experience has been at the heart of conceptualizing, designing, and constructing Savor and its outdoor, counter-service counterpart Relish, with special attention being given to such components as a conveniently lengthy valet lane that utilizes parking spaces in the garage next door and a stop for the McKinney Avenue Trolley right outside of Relish. Inside and out, Coleman says that Klyde Warren Park is the true décor of the restaurant, so soft tones and natural light have been key in decorating the lounge and dining room around its floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The restaurateurs recruited a New York-based music programming company to stylize Savor’s musical ambiance by time of day, so expect a coffee shop sound and feel in the morning and a cozy lounge ambiance in the afternoon and evening. In keeping with the park’s dog friendliness, Savor plans to apply for a permit that will allow dogs to join their human counterparts on the patio.
Coleman sees Savor as a social space and plans to house two communal tables with 10 to 15 seats apiece, as well as to host “art kit competitions” among the multi-party patrons at these tables in which he’ll buy a round of celebratory drinks for the winners of art project face-off. The communal feel of Savor will be all about having fun, and seating at the communal tables will be given on a first come, first served basis (though Savor does plan to take both dining room and patio reservations for lunch and dinner, as well as during park-hosted concerts and events).
The polished-casual menu is a work in progress that Coleman and his team have been poring over for nearly a year and a half, but it too will focus on a shared dining experience principle by providing shareable appetizers and flatbreads among pricier entrees. The cocktail menu is being completed alongside it with crucial input from Dallas Mixologist Brian McCullough, who has previously developed cocktails for The Standard Pour. Savor also plans to offer a kids menu, which will be a mix of comfort food and healthy options to accommodate both the palate pickiness and nutritional necessities of Savor’s younger patrons. Relish’s menu will stay the same, for the most part, save for expanded burger offerings (including a veggie burger) and ice cream.
In constructing this unique restaurant, Coleman says he and his team have faced their fair share of challenges —such as limitations in lateral movement given that the restaurant, like Klyde Warren Park, is built on top of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. But this is hardly his first rodeo. Coleman has overseen the opening of 18 hotels all over the world; he says this project is the most personal. He calls Savor a culmination of his life’s work, and the finish to an already impressive Klyde Warren Park. “I feel like we’ve gotten it right,” Coleman says. “Soon, we’ll know for sure.”
