Stay:
I live in Dallas but if I were a visitor, I would stay at either:
-the Joule if you are into art and fashion
-the Mansion if you are into privacy and luxury
-Lumen is a small boutique hotel right across from SMU
Dine:
My dear friend, Jules Barsotti, owns the best Italian food restaurants in Dallas. My favorites are Nonna for my favorite dinner anywhere and Fachini for awesome food and a great Highland Park Village location. For the best Tex-Mex, Mi Cocina, also in the Highland Park Village, is my favorite.
See & Do:
I spent years on the board of the Dallas Theater Center and love every play they run, some are original productions. I also love our Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center and Klyde Warren Park with food trucks across the street. We have a wonderful zoo and arboretum that are both nice to visit during the cool/warm weather in the spring and fall. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is extremely well-done. We have President George W. Bush’s Library on the SMU campus and the Sixth Floor Museum/Texas Book Depository in honor of President John F. Kennedy. Finally, Dallas has a lot of professional sports – Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars.
Shop:
The Highland Park Village is a gorgeous outdoor shopping center in the most beautiful residential neighborhood and houses all the luxury fashion brands, along with my close friend's store Elisa’s beautifully curated store called Market and my other close friend Deborah’s social club, Park House. My absolute favorite brand, La Ligne, opened their second store in HPV. My sister's caftan brand, La Vie, also has a store there. I spend by far the most of my time as a non-digital consumer in this shopping center. Forty Five Ten, Stanley Korshak and Neiman Marcus were all founded in Dallas.