Dallas Chop House in downtown Dallas to open on December 31

Latest concept from restaurateur Mike Hoque will start with a New Year's Eve prix fixe dinner.

Dallas Chop House

DALLAS — Dallas Chop House, the latest concept from DRG Concepts, will open to the public on December 31, when the restaurant will host a Prix Fixe menu on New Year's Eve.

Located on the first level of Downtown Dallas' Comerica Bank Building at 1717 Main Street, the vibrantly decorated and multi-room restaurant is DRG Concepts' fresh approach to the Texas and American steakhouse experience, according to owner and founder Mike Hoque.

"I have traveled across the United States in my career and have visited the great American steakhouses in 2009 to study what consumers like and prefer from their dining experience in enjoying great beef and classic recipes served in these famous destinations," said Hoque. "What we have developed with our top culinary and management team at Dallas Chop House is a menu and atmosphere that provides tradition, fresh flavors and energy that makes everyone comfortable - and the experience accessible, too."

The Dallas Chop House dinner menu, crafted by Executive Chef Kenny Mills and Dallas Chop House partner restaurant Dallas Fish Market's Executive Chef Randy Morgan, offers North Texas guests a selection of Classic recipes, with ingredients and combinations of flavors that are new and interesting. For example, appetizers include a Traditional Caesar Salad with White Anchovies and Roasted Garlic, along with a Towering Bibb Salad, combining hazelnut hummus, showered with pecorino, endive, picholine olives. The Dallas Chop House Steak Tartare is served with a raw egg, something one would see in other cities on the East and West Coasts.

Dallas Chop House

Dallas Chop House will serve both prime and choice beef, and will house dry-age beef with Himalayan salt in a special space right in the kitchen. Sides served with Dallas Chop House steaks include Marsala Simmered Baby Portabellas, Caramelized Onion Yukon Gold Mashers, Brussels Sprouts, Hash Browns, Mac n Cheese, Asparagus with Hollandaise and Lobster Maque Choux.

Desserts created by Chefs Mills and Morgan include house-baked Chocolate Cake and Carrot Cake. The restaurant's bar will serve hand-crafted cocktails, including a Truffle Martini with Raspberry Vodka, Godiva Chocolate Liquor, and Chocolate Shavings.

Guests will enjoy a patio at Dallas Chop House that overlooks the new Main Street Garden that opened in November 2009.

Top Management and Culinary Teams

Chef Kenneth Mills has been named Executive Chef for Dallas Chop House. Chef Kenneth Mills brings successful experience from several north Texas restaurants to Dallas Chop House, including Sullivan's Steakhouse and Ringside, an upscale steakhouse in North Dallas. Prior to that, he was Executive Chef of Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill in Addison. His efforts to serve the freshest seafood available combined with his "guest first" mentality were rewarded with "Best Seafood Restaurant in Dallas" by both the voters and editors of City Search and Zagat.

Before Chamberlain's, in 2007 Kenneth opened the second Little Katana for Mr. Odes Kito, helping to achieve a Four Star rating from The Dallas Morning News, as well as several other accolades.

Chef Mills has served as a Consulting Chef in a variety of new ventures, including DRG Concepts' Go Fish Ocean Club, The Catalina Room, Tony's Prime Steakhouse and Farmers Market Grille, covering a wide range of cuisines from prime upscale to Asian to southern.

As the Executive Chef at The Capital Grille for four years, Mills was selected to be in the first edition of The International Who's Who of Chefs 2004-2005 edition, the Dallas Junior Leagues cookbook Dallas Dish, and was rated Exceptional by Zagat for two years running. Prior to The Capital Grille, Chef Mills was featured as a Guest Chef at the Denver and District Chophouses as well as developing dishes for Café Patrique, with Stephan Pyles and David Holbein.

At Chow Thai Pacific Rim from 2000 to 2001, Chef Mills worked with concept developers Vinne Virasin and daughter Prisna to develop the only 4 star Asian cuisine in the Metroplex. Pacific Rim received a 4 Star rating by The Dallas Morning News, was voted Best Fusion Foray by Dallas Observer, was listed as one of The Top Ten New Restaurants by The Dallas Morning News, and received favorable reviews from Dallas Observer, D Magazine, The Dallas Business Journal, and Zagat.

Prior to this, Chef Kenneth Mills was the chef at Humperdink's Seafood and Chophouse in north Dallas and Natura Café in the uptown area, where he developed organic and healthy recipes in conjunction with The Cooper Clinic. He was also the chef in charge of catering The Cattle Baron's Ball and The Silver Spurs fundraisers for Loma Luna as well as the owner/chef of Fort Worth based Cowboy Café. He has worked with chefs Dan O'Leary, Richard Chamberlain, Chris Ward and Mark Marrow.

In addition to all his typical everyday duties associated with running a kitchen, he has also appeared on cooking shows for KERA/ Channel 13 and Good Day Dallas KDFW-TV. He has taught cooking classes for The Farmers Market and Share Our Strength and enjoys cooking at the various benefits around Dallas including Taste of Frisco, The Dallas Morning News Food & Wine Festival, Taste of The World, The Farmers Market Hoe-down, The Magical Mystery Tour, catered for The Dallas Cowboys during training camp and participated in two AIWF Caesar Salad competitions. Chef Mills lives in Arlington with his wife Rachel and son Travis.

Scott Fickling has been named General Manager of Dallas Chop House. Scott Fickling was born and raised in East Dallas. After earning a degree in Education at the University of North Texas, he enjoyed a successful teaching career before leaving the profession to open Dallas' legendary bar and restaurant, The San Francisco Rose and St. Martin's Restaurant. Scott was one of the pioneers of what today is one of Dallas premier entertainment streets "Lower Greenville."

Opening the San Francisco Rose in 1977, as owner and operator, Fickling set new standards for Dallas nightlife in the late '70s and '80s. Opening St. Martins in 1980 created high standards of restaurant excellence still enjoyed today. Both restaurants are still open and thriving.

Fickling also partnered with Gene Street in opening the 'Balboa Café' concept in the 1980s. He opened a bar called the 'Star Bar' on the 4th floor of the West End Marketplace when the Marketplace opened in the late 1980s.

Selling interest in his restaurants in 1992, Fickling took four years away from the business before joining the Palm Steakhouse Group in 1996 as the new General Manager for the Denver location of the world renowned dining destionation. He was with The Palm for over eight years as GM of the Denver Palm, the Beverly Hills Palm and Director of Operations for the Western United States Palm restaurants. He left the Palm Management in 2004 to return to Denver and take a couple of years off before opening his own Steakhouse in the Cherry Creek North shopping area. His business was successful until 2008 when the harsh Denver economic environment forced him to close the restaurant.

After closing the restaurant Fickling began a new project of creating a cooking show. Texas Cookin' is currently being shopped to the networks by Creative Entertainment Management out of Los Angeles.

Fickling returned to Dallas in June 2009 to continue in the restaurant business. After a brief time in a local restaurant group as Director of Operations he was eager to join the Dallas Restaurant Group as GM of the new Dallas Chop House, utilizing his wealth of knowledge in helping start a new chapter in Dallas dining excellence.

Scott is proud of his family with a son Christian, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, and his daughter Jordan, a high school junior in Castle Rock, Co. He lives in Dallas with Lynda, his wife of 22 years.

Source: Dallas Chop House