The Mansion dropping formalities
09:30 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 5, 2007
By SUZANNE MARTA / The Dallas Morning News
smarta@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...n1.516f54c.html
Better sit down for this one.
The Mansion on Turtle Creek – home of Dallas' grand dame of fine cuisine – is undergoing a major overhaul. When the work is completed this fall, the restaurant will be sans tablecloths, and jeans will be welcome – even without jackets – in the main dining room.
That's right: Except for the 22-seat chef's tasting room, there won't be a dress code. And in the main dining room, the wooden tables will be bare.
These jaw-dropping changes at the Lone Star State's only five-star, five-diamond hotel and five-diamond restaurant are part of a $20 million renovation as the Mansion gears up for a fierce battle for Dallas' affluent diners.
The goal? Maintain the Mansion's historic elegance, but reposition the restaurant as a place for any occasion, not just wedding anniversaries and other special events.
"To many people, the Mansion became unapproachable and a little stuffy," said Robert Boulogne, chief operating officer of the Mansion's parent, Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels. "That's the element we have to address."
As it aims to become more than just a place for special occasions, the Mansion is dropping its jackets-required dress code.
Critics say the renovation is overdue given that the Mansion faces so many new rivals.
When the Mansion's restaurant opened in 1980, there wasn't much competition when it came to fine dining. That situation has changed dramatically, with the arrival of a robust roster of high-end, nationally acclaimed restaurants such as Abacus, Stephan Pyles, Nobu, Craft and N9NE.
Also, up to even a year ago, there were only two other Dallas-area hotels vying for luxury-minded travelers: the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, and the Mansion's sister property, the Hotel Crescent Court.
Since then, Hotel Palomar, owned by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurant Group LLC, and the W Dallas Victory Hotel have opened. Although the two hotels are technically considered merely "upscale," they both have the $300-plus room rates typically reserved for luxury properties.
Even more of a threat, the Ritz-Carlton Dallas will open later this summer with 218 rooms and a restaurant led by the marquee chef the Ritz lured away from the Mansion, Dean Fearing.
Still other luxury projects, including a Mandarin Oriental in the Victory Park development, are expected to double the area's supply of top-end rooms compared with a year ago, to more than 1,400.
What's to come
At the Mansion, renovations will first focus on the restaurant and bar, refurbishing the ornately coffered ceilings and fireplace mantles while injecting a more contemporary feel.
When the restaurant reopens, diners will choose from a formal chef's tasting room; a slightly more moderately priced, come-as-you-are restaurant; and a cozy bar.
Early next year, the hotel's guest rooms, lobby and other public areas will be updated.
The Mansion's restaurant won't close completely but will limit service to about 16 tables in its Promenade area during construction on the dining room and bar.
Even with the facelift, it will be harder for the grand dame to compete.
All the newcomers mean the Mansion will have to share the market's limited base of luxury customers, said John Keeling, a senior vice president at PKF Consulting in Houston.
"There's a question in my mind whether that many luxury hotels can thrive in the Dallas market," he said, pointing to the fact that occupancy rates in the downtown core have trailed those in the rest of the nation.
Complicating matters, Mr. Keeling said, is the fact that the main driver of luxury lodging demand – corporate headquarters – have clustered around Las Colinas and Plano's Legacy business park rather than in downtown.
"The Mansion needs to go through this renovation if they want to survive," Mr. Keeling said. "It's still a classic hotel and great location, and they'll be a force to be reckoned with, but it won't be as easy for them as it has in the past."
Mr. Boulogne dismissed suggestions that the renovations are coming too late given that the Ritz will open later this summer while the Mansion is still under construction. "Dallas will always embrace the Mansion as its own," he said. "I don't think any chain is going to come in and usurp that."
The Mansion is a part of Dallas history like few other establishments. Its restaurant opened in the 1925 former home of cotton and oil magnate Sheppard King, with the hotel attachment following a year later.
Its hotel soon earned five-star and five-diamond status by Mobil Travel Guides as well as AAA – a distinction it holds exclusively in Texas. (The restaurant enjoys five-diamond status but dropped to four stars in 2002.)
But today, the storied hotel and restaurant show time's wear. Chips in the painted columns that lead into the dining room reveal gold flecks from an earlier, gilded life. The intricately carved fireplace mantle in the library is darkened from soot.
During the renovation, the dining room's mirrored wall will be replaced with a honey-colored onyx that will be echoed in the bar area. Lighting fixtures will be updated and the color palette will take on more contemporary hues of cognac, taupe, amber and celadon.
The patio off the Verandah will be upgraded with higher-end furnishings and become a more regular dining spot.
The Garden Room – now used mostly for private parties – will be turned into an intimate reception and after-dinner drinks area for those eating in the prix-fixe Chef's Room.
For the bar, there will be slightly brighter lighting, with new settees to replace the rounded banquettes and tables that better accommodate dining.
The restaurant has already undergone some changes with the departure of Mr. Fearing and arrival of executive chef John Tesar, whose menu steered away from Southwestern cuisine in favor of more continental flavors.
And it has quietly loosened its long-held dress policy. While staff still advised patrons that jackets are required in the dining room, the policy hasn't been strictly enforced for about a year.
That change was driven by what Mr. Boulogne said was a changing attitude toward luxury seen in Rosewood's hotels worldwide.
"Affluent customers want to be able to go anywhere and wear whatever they're comfortable in," he said. "It's not for us to dictate. We want to offer them a choice, and that's how we're going to be able to win in Dallas."
Plans for Fearing's at the Ritz also include multiple dining rooms and a bar offering both formal and casual styles to give patrons a choice. No dress code will be enforced.
At the Four Seasons, the dress code at its Cafe on the Green is "resort casual," which leaves jackets optional, though it bans jeans, shorts and swimsuits during dinner service.
A force ... of change
Longtime Dallas restaurateur Gene Street, who co-founded the Black-eyed Pea in 1975, is confident of the Mansion's future in Dallas, though he applauds the updating. "It's still, to me, the force to be reckoned with in Dallas' restaurant market," he said. "If you ask a cabdriver, 'What is the finest restaurant in Dallas?' I'd bet more than half of them would say the Mansion."
But when Mr. Street talked of a recent visit to the restaurant, he described an older crowd. "They weren't playing 'Moon River,' but it wasn't much livelier."
Rosewood's Mr. Boulogne said he hopes the changes will return the restaurant's pre-eminence and broaden its appeal to a younger crowd: "I want people to think of the Mansion as their club again."
The changes won't be easy for some, he was quick to point out.
"Change is hard, and a number of our loyal guests don't want change," he said. "The trouble is, there are just not enough of them to sustain this as only a special-occasion restaurant."
UPDATING AN INSTITUTION
The Mansion began a $20 million renovation of its restaurant and bar Monday. Work on its guest rooms and other public areas begins early next year.
Here's a look at some of the planned changes:
Seating choices: There will be three distinct dining areas: main restaurant, Chef's Room, bar.
Pricing changes: Expect slightly more moderate prices in the main restaurant.
Leave the coat at home: Jackets will be optional and jeans welcome in the main restaurant; jacket required in the Chef's Room.
Less linen: Exposed, dark wood tabletops in the main restaurant; linens in the Chef's Room.
A different flavor: New menus by executive chef John Tesar, including multiple tasting menus in the Chef's Room.
SOURCE: The Mansion on Turtle Creek
BY THE NUMBERS
Built: 1925
Restaurant opened: 1980
Hotel opened: 1981
Rooms: 143
Suites: 16
Starting room rate: $495
Starting suite rate: $800
SOURCE: The Mansion on Turtle Creek
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