Take a look inside Town Hearth, chef Nick Badovinus’ new modern steakhouse in Dallas (and check out the menu)

Chef Nick Badovinus’s new Town Hearth restaurant opened to a mostly full house last night, and the Hatch crew sure liked what we saw. The focus is prime meats and live-fire cooking, a modern steakhouse that doesnt want to call itself a modern steakhouse even though more than half the entrees are prime cuts. Those filets, porterhouses and ribeye are a mix of Midwestern and Alabama beef, some wet-aged and some dry-aged, all sourced and aged at Halpern’s beef locker in Atlanta for as long as 45 days.  Rick Hamilton of Halpern’s says some steaks on the menu were aged on the carcass rather than cut into portions then aged. (I’ve toured Halpern’s aging room in Atlanta and came away mightily impressed.)

Town Hearth is crazy, over-the-top, sexy and stunning, all at the same time. When was the last time you dined at a restaurant with 64 chandeliers, a Ducati motorcycle, a yellow submarine and an MG in the kitchen? At Town Hearth, the emphasis is definitely on prime meats, live fire cooking and having fun. Good to see Jeff Bekavac, Bradford, Richie Blankenship and Badovinus all working hard in the kitchen.

“This is not a neighborhood restaurant,” says GM Austin Rodgers. “This is the place to step out and dine in style.”

Betty Rubble and Wilma Flintstone would love this place.

Check out the menu above…and note that the 1974 Ducati Sport cycle can be wrapped to-go for $75,000, but if you drop enough on dinner, maybe Badovinus would take OBO.

Ring the restaurant for reservations (dinner only), (214) 761-1617.

In addition to Town Hearth (OpenTable reservations coming soon), Badovinus owns Neighborhood Services and its slew of affiliated restaurants, plus Montlake Cut and Off-Site Kitchen.

1617 Market Center Blvd, deep in the Design District.