Hattie’s bills itself as an American bistro with Southern low-country influences. Armed with a creed that mandates the transformation of traditional, seasonal ingredients into sophisticated, imaginative flourishes, Hattie’s is the quintessential specimen of Texas urbanity; a fixture in the chic Bishop Arts District located just minutes south of downtown Dallas. It’s a bustling district, filled with eclectic shops, galleries, and restaurants—even a chocolatier—in a turn-of-the-century setting. It will sieve every last drop of funk and hip out you if you don’t keep your collars buttoned.

Hattie’s means stellar service in a graceful white tablecloth space with high tin ceilings and crisp environs that are neither overtly vintage nor earnestly contemporary. Its exquisitely plated mains include low country shrimp and grits ladled with a bacony Tabasco sauce, jalapeño-stuffed quail, and spice-rubbed Australian lamb chops in rosemary-dijon sauce served with artichoke and potato puff pastry—you get the picture.

Killer brunch, too, featuring spicy bloody Marys that will not only fill your thoughts with hum, they will move your belt buckle outward on account of all the celery, lime, pickled okra, and fresh grape tomato in the glass. The only food group missing from this hooch grab bag is the meat. But that’s what bacon-wrapped fried oyster scrambles are for.