Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas is getting a new restaurant.
The iconic building that flanks the Dallas skyline is celebrating its 45th anniversary this month with the opening of Crown Block.
The Reunion Tower previously housed another restaurant, Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck, but it permanently closed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its replacement will bring an all-new attraction to the city.
“Virtually everything you see up here is different, except for the view,” Tyler Kleinert, an associate at Hunt Realty Investments and the grandson of Ray Hunt, an original developer of the Reunion Tower, told CBS News.
Kleinert said the new restaurant derives its name from a Texas mainstay, its oil rigs.
“Crown Block is actually the highest point of an oil rig, and here we are at the top of Reunion Tower,” he explained.
Hunt Realty Group, which owns Reunion Tower, brought in the husband-and-wife team of Elizabeth Blau and chef Kim Canteenwalla of Las Vegas-based Blau Associates to develop the restaurant.
Headed by Elizabeth Blau, Blau Associates brings a wealth of experience to their new venture in Reunion Tower. Blau’s culinary career in particular boasts over 20 years of experience, and she was a driving figure in Las Vegas’ shift from buffet dining to fine dining in that same time span.
Her husband, Kim Canteenwalla, is the former executive chef of MGM Grand and another longtime face in the food industry. His career, spanning over thirty years, has seen him run restaurants in Indonesia, Dubai, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Together, the pair runs Honey Salt in Las Vegas.
Canteenwalla, the Crown Block executive chef and managing partner, said Crown Block’s menu is Texas-inspired. The restaurant website bills itself as serving “rare steaks and fine seafood.”
“We looked to the farms in Texas, we looked to the cattle ranches and the distilleries and the winemakers of Texas,” Canteenwalla told CBS News.
The new restaurant will still offer panoramic views at the 561-foot Reunion Tower but will not spin like previous iterations.
Also included is The Crown Room, which describes itself as Dallas’ newest premier event venue. A full bar is available in the Crown Room, which can accommodate up to 250 guests for cocktail receptions or 200 for formal seated dining.
The restaurant is set to open on Monday and is currently accepting reservations on its website: www.crownblockdallas.com.