Peek Inside Crown Block Before It Opens

The only thing matching the soaring height of Crown Block, the new restaurant opening on April 17 in Reunion Tower, is the height of curiosity Dallasites have about the restaurant itself. Elizabeth Blau and chef Kim Canteenwalla, a wife and husband team with fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas and Vancouver and experience many other places, are behind the endeavor. This is their first property in Dallas.

Diners should expect the views to be the overwhelming star of the space. “I think the most exciting thing is that the elevators are all glass from floor to ceiling now,” Blau tells Eater Dallas. “You are already getting a sneak peek of what’s to come.”

But the moment diners step off the elevator is what Blau calls “the real drama.” They’ll walk around a case displaying the restaurant’s massive wine collection and into a trifecta: the marble bar, a sushi station where sushi and seafood towers are built, and the pastry station with tempting desserts and breads.

Those stations are born of necessity — the kitchen on the floor is stunningly tiny, and building out places where the sushi and pastry teams could work was needed to expedite service. Much of the food will travel from a larger kitchen on the first floor for service.

If walking past those two counters doesn’t tempt diners to think ahead, the newly installed bar, made entirely of marble, is created to draw them in for a cocktail.

“The bar and its bottles of liquor are literally gleaming in the background with this incredible skyline of Dallas,” Blau says. And next to the bar is lounge seating with couches and chairs that make it conversational.

The interiors are an array of marble, blues, grays, and various grains of wood, with neutral colors threading through the choices. It’s intentional to reflect the natural exteriors and not try to compete. The furniture is, as Blau describes it, “residential,” with various types of seating and fabrics.

“When you walk in this space, you realize that your job to not detract from what the star of the show is. Everything is meant to accompany that, but not draw your eye away from it. So, you don’t see any drapery and we haven’t touched the windows,” Blau says. “Everything is about embellishing the light and enhancing the space.”

“I don’t like to consider food the co-star, but the scene up here is pretty amazing,” Canteenwalla says with a laugh.

“As the night progresses, and the light gets darker and in the space, and you’ve spent the time looking out the window, then the next step of our job is at the plate,” Blau says, teasing the menu.