Last week I reported on the new menu at The Loft at NYLO Plano at Legacy. This week it was the turn of its sibling, NYLO Dallas|Las Colinas to hold a media event. Same restaurant name, The Loft, but a different chef and menu. There has been a shakeup in the kitchen and on the floor: Chef Matthew Brown has been on board a grand total of 51 days and GM Marc Messina has been walking the floor for 110. Brown was a protege of a faculty member at Johnson and Wales Culinary School in Atlanta, but most of his talent was achieved at the school of hard knocks. Recall that NYLO Plano chef Sean Cahill trained at Johnson and Wales as well – the two data points thus proving beyond reasonable doubt my theory that J&W is a vast conspiracy embedding sleeper agents in kitchens all over the world. Before the signal arrives, Brown is biding his time with things like a deconstructed lobster corn chowder: potato purée, sweet corn bisque, and butter poached lobster assembled in a large tallboy glass. It was the best dish of the night. A bison slider with Brie, candied bacon, and brown butter mayo was also superior and a twist on the ubiquitous burger.
Jump.
NYLO travelers and Las Colinas/Irving residents alike are going to want to check out the cocktails at happy hour and the sushi bar at one end of the room. Unlike our visit to Plano, we did manage to check out the guest rooms. I can report that the TVs are flat, and the electrical sockets are at desktop level. However, no baths (just rainforest showers), or Jacuzzis, and patios are only in a couple of top floor suites. To its credit, NYLO is pet-friendly, so if you have just bought that rare Amazon Python, this is the place to bring him for exercise. He will have a choice of two pools in which to constrict every last ounce of air out of the other guests.
There is a striking similarity in the buildings in Plano and Irving. In fact, they appear to be the same architect’s plans in both places, save for the City of Irving’s mandatory requirement of a ballroom stuck, bunion-like, on one end. Fortunately, the NYLO on South Side in Dallas has a totally different plan (including a pool on the roof) thus preserving individuality.
