UPDATED: Graham Dodds, Chris Zielke will lead the marquee restaurant, four others at the Statler Hotel Dallas when it opens this fall


When the marquee restaurant at the new Statler Hotel and Residences in downtown Dallas opens this fall, expect to see a couple of familiar faces running the show: chef Graham Dodds and restaurateur Chris Zielke.

Dodds, the chef behind defunct Wayward Son and consulting chef of Quincy’s Chicken Shack, and Zielke (Bolsa, Smoke, Chicken Scratch, The Theodore) worked together many years ago at Bolsa. The duo are whispered to be partnering again at the Statler, a once stately hotel which will reopen this October. The reopening follows an extensive rehab to covert the structure into a modern, 159-room Curio Collection Hilton Hotel with an additional 219 apartments on the upper floors.

The hotel’s website says the dining mix will include a diner, an Asian gastropub and a rooftop bar.

Dodds and Zielke could not be reached for comment or details.

UPDATE July 11:

A hotel spokesman sends word today that Graham Dodds will head all kitchen operations as the Culinary Director for Epic F&B, a consulting and management group led by Zielke and partners Chris Jeffers, Royce Ring and Alexander Urrunaga.

The team will operate six F&B venues at the hotel:

OVEREASY – serving farm-to-table breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and featuring a gourmet coffee bar, counter seating and patio on Commerce Street overlooking Main Street Gardens

SCOUT – a 12,000 square foot social space offering a scratch American menu with shareable items and craft beer on tap. Scout will feature live music, flat screen televisions, four bowling lanes, four Ping-Pong tables, billiards tables and foosball.

FINE CHINA – a full-service lunch and dinner Pan-Asian restaurant and cocktail bar, featuring sake, Japanese whiskies, high tea, communal seating, private rooms and weekend DJs

BOURBON & BANTER – cocktail lounge with an extensive bourbon and whiskey library, and craft cocktails; Open from 4 p.m. until late

WATERPROOF – a poolside roof deck bar & lounge, situated on the 19th- floor, offering 360-degree panoramic views, weekend DJs, resort-style service and craft cocktails

GRAND BALLROOM – a nearly 12,000 square foot flexible space.