Frenchie, the latest endeavor from Travis Street Hospitality in Dallas, embraces the vibe of a true French neighborhood bistro.
BECKLEY
At more than a century old, The French Room—an opulent amenity within the Adolphus Hotel when it opened in 1912—is the oldest, grandest, most storied and possibly most revered restaurant in Dallas. A bastion of Old Guard dining, it has held sway over generations as an official rite of passage for a citizenry more accustomed to chicken fried steak than coq a vin, and more versed in brisket fat caps than foie gras.
For Dallasites, it was the only kind of French restaurant they knew or wanted—sumptuous, totemic French or nothing at all. That was true until Stephan Courseau, a Paris-born restaurateur, ushered in a new understanding and appreciation for more honest, traditional and realistic definitions of French dining.
Courseau and his wife and business partner, Daniele Garcia, are co-founders of Travis Street Hospitality, a resoundingly successful collection of posh-but-approachable Dallas concepts that have redefined French dining in the Metroplex. One after another, Travis Street Hospitality restaurants have taught Dallas that there’s more than one way to skin an andouillette.
The menu at Le Bilboquet, Couseau’s first concept in Dallas, features simple classics like roasted chicken.
©BECKLEYBringing approachable French cuisine to Dallas
Courseau’s timing was impeccable: He arrived in Dallas as the post-recession ravages restructured the city’s dining scene from flashy and formal to an era that appreciated creativity and the newfound pleasures of neighborhood experiences. In his hands, Dallas discovered it could still enjoy a measure of Gallic gloss but within a sensible, approachable format—comfortable, familiar and saddled-up with Texas can-do optimism.
In Courseau’s hands, Dallas diners have learned to savor new facets of French: Café society (Le Bilboquet, his first concept, opened in 2013); grand brasserie (Knox Bistro, originally opened as Up the Knox in 2017); seasonal haute dining experience (Georgie, 2019); boucherie and charcuterie (The Georgie Butcher Shop, 2020); French Vietnamese-inspired café (Rose Café, 2024); and the chic everyman’s bouillon (Frenchie, 2025).
With business partner and fellow Frenchman Bruno Davaillon, a Michelin-starred and James Beard-nominated chef who serves as the brand’s culinary director, Courseau has created a Dallas French revolution that has shaped an entire neighborhood while transforming the local restaurant scene in the course of a dozen years.
Stephan Courseau, left, and Bruno Davaillon, the force behind Travis Street Hospitality’s successful French revolution.
Mary Margaret PhotographyFrom Paris to Dallas via New York
It has been quite a journey for a young Parisien who arrived in New York City at 21 with almost no English but an inexhaustible interest in American culture, including cowboys and the Wild West. After arriving in Manhattan in 1987 with $500 in his pocket, Courseau nabbed his first job as a dishwasher in a SoHo Italian restaurant.
That initial introduction to the restaurant world proved fortuitous. He eventually charmed his way into front-of-house positions with some of the biggest names in the business, including Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. But it was his first big gig at Le Bilboquet, the genteel but glamorous Upper East Side bistro that opened in 1986, that got him hooked on hospitality.
When he moved to the Big D and acquired licensing for a local iteration of Le Bilboquet, Courseau couldn’t have predicted his influence on the Dallas dining scene or the neighborhood he called home, but both have been profound. As a business, Travis Street Hospitality has been instrumental in turning the Knox-Henderson neighborhood into a premier dining and lifestyle district. As key anchors, Courseau’s signature restaurants have transformed the neighborhood into a vibrant, diverse, sophisticated, Dallas-proud destination.
Light lunch entrees reveal the fusion of a simple French salad with bold flavors of Cajun spiced shrimp.
© BECKLEY
Travis Street Hospitality’s success at promoting a sense of neighborhood (before it became a major dining trend) built a desire for community connectedness and helped fuel the shift toward upscale casual dining. And with Davaillon’s culinary leadership, the restaurants have attracted top talent while creating work environments of the highest standards, where professionalism and loyalty are both expected and rewarded.
Neighborhood casual meets haute cuisine, Dallas style
Each Travis Street restaurant brings something different to the table: After more than a dozen years, Le Bilboquet remains a chic neighborhood favorite where people watching on the patio remains an intense social sport. A white tablecloth joint, oui, but a casual vibe prevails, ideal for gossip over proper “ladies who lunch” staples like crab and avocado salad, poached salmon with cucumber-dill salad, or the popular Cajun Chicken—spice-rubbed chicken breast glossed with a white wine beurre blanc—that cannot be ignored.
Walk a few steps north on Travis and you’ll find Georgie, where Davaillon has revamped the menu in a style that is indulgent but judicious; meticulous but uncomplicated. The restaurant’s attractive, slightly theatrical design gives Davaillon a dramatic stage for comely dishes such as sake-poached leeks with truffle vinaigrette, hiramasa crudo with mandarin aguachile and fennel confit, and slow-baked Ora King salmon with green apple and pickled cucumber.
A few more steps past Georgie you’ll find the vivacious energy of Knox Bistro in perpetual full swing. Hip, casual and brimming with playful confidence, it hums effortlessly under classically trained chef Armand Brunner. Regulars indulge their bistro swagger with oysters on the half shell, foie gras torchon with fig-pear marmalade, cheese souffle, brown butter skate wing, and a proper steak au poivre.
That’s not to say there haven’t been a few missteps along the way: a reinvention of Georgie after parting ways with initial celebrity chef Curtis Stone, and the closing of the luxurious Le PasSage at The Terminal at Katy Trail, which failed to find an audience. While the over-the-top Le PasSage didn’t resonate with diners, it’s casual sister concept Rose Café, in the same Katy trail complex, is thriving under executive chef Sotear Tep. The easygoing, Asian-inflected menu and laid-back patio oasis vibes merge easily with the neighborhood’s fit-and-fabulous lifestyle.
At Rose Café, French and Vietnamese flavors mingle, like in this carrot ginger salad topped with grilled salmon.
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Still, the Travis Street Hospitality core team—Courseau, Garcia, Davaillon, and director of operations Edward Goemans—has developed the chemistry to continuously connect and resonate with Dallas diners, and they keep innovating. Frenchie, the group’s first venture outside Knox-Henderson, opened last year in North Dallas’ prime Preston Center Plaza. While Travis Street Hospitality could have settled back in its home turf to savor recent Michelin recognition (both Georgie and Knox Bistro earned Recommended status), Frenchie proved the company could succeed outside of their beloved neighborhood.
Frenchie is a bustling upscale-casual concept that immerses diners in classic bistro ambiance. Under executive chef Reilly Brown, who helped Press Restaurant in Napa Valley nab its first Michelin star as the sous chef, the bistro menu progresses from brunch classics like eggs benedict and croque monsieur to light lunches featuring beef tartare, salmon carpaccio and Provencale tomato tart, while dinner features yellowtail crudo, mussels marniere, steak frites and burger au poivre.
That Frenchie is a hit should surprise no one. Travis Street’s savvy is now as polished as a rodeo buckle. There’s a big frontier out there to conquer, and Courseau is now enough of a cowboy to rope it, brand it, and ride it into the sunset.
Dining and Cooking