photos c/o of The Theodore and Cynthia Smoot
Last night I stopped by The Theodore. It's NorthPark Center's hottest new dining destination led by James Beard Award-winning chef Tim Byres, Christopher Jeffers and Christopher Zielke (the team behind SMOKE, Chicken Scratch, The Foundry, Bar Belmont, Bolsa and Bolsa Mercado). The Theodore honors the dynamic spark that followed Teddy Roosevelt over the course of his lifetime. Each room within the restaurant has been thoughtfully curated by art and design team Lou Verne - giving The Theodore a spirit of its own. Filled with hidden rooms, vintage furniture, hand painted murals, and whimsical curiosities from fashion photographer Maxine Helfman’s personal collection, The Theodore has a stylized quirkiness with of a hint nostalgia and charm that speaks to lovers of a time when things were handmade with integrity. “The idea is that the rooms within The Theodore are filled with curiosity and wonder paired with service that is sincere and down-to-earth,” Jeffers says. “The rooms and their hangings tell the story of adventure and love lost, or perhaps a trip to a exotic far away place. The food and aromas take you back to your childhood memory of meals at your grandparents and their collections of stories. The music has no defining era, but chooses to wander through years of American music and European bands with a southern influence.The Theodore belongs to everyone.”
The open-air bakery wafts an irresistible aroma of freshly baked artisanal breads and pastries that greet guests in the halls of NorthPark Center even before they enter the eatery. Fresh bread are baked around the clock, so that guests can have the freshest breads available for appetizers, toasts, and sandwiches - with the goal to eventually provide breakfast breads, danishes, and pastries with coffee to early morning NorthPark guests and employees. The menu primarily consists of sandwiches, pizzas and salads with daily specials. At $29 the Beef Wellington is one of the most expensive items on the menu but it is well worth the price. Made with roasted filet mignon, mushrooms, foie gras, butter pastry & mashed potatoes you will find yourself pulling a When Harry Met Sally orgasmic moment with each delicious bite. For dessert? I give their Grapefruit and Honey Baked Alaska two thumbs, way up. Guests can dine in the Hasty Pudding Club, sit at the bar in the Badlands or outside in the Cottonwoods and have a speciality cocktail crafted by bar manager Kyle Hilla. His signature cocktails, named after national parks - a nod to Roosevelt’s conservation endeavors - are uncomplicated and approachable. The drinks highlighted on the Happy Hour menu are named after national monuments declared so by the Rough Rider himself, and are featured Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Theodore sits 230 people and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m Friday and Saturday. http://thetheodore.com
