Lavendou Bistro Provençal has just picked up its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence again, and the number worth sitting with is the streak behind it. This is the eleventh year in a row the North Dallas restaurant has earned the recognition, a run stretching back to 2015 that puts it in a small club of DFW restaurants that keep their wine programs sharp enough to earn the award annually rather than occasionally.
The restaurant belongs to Pascal Cayet, a French-born chef who opened Lavendou in North Dallas back in 1996 after running Chez Gerard on McKinney Avenue for over a decade. Nearly three decades later, it’s still one of the most reliable rooms in the city for classic French cooking, and the wine list is only half the reason regulars keep coming back.
The menu is where Lavendou earns its loyalty. The lobster bisque comes up in nearly every conversation about the restaurant, thick and intensely flavored with enough actual lobster meat to chew rather than hunt for. The sole almondine, thin and buttery under a crust of slivered almonds, is a standout for anyone who wants something lighter, while the escargot, served the classic way in a multi-well plate, is the dish longtime guests order without needing to look at the menu. The Foie Gras En Terrine au Sauternes is one of the richer starters on offer, and the Grilled New York Strip with porcini mushrooms and artichokes in a white wine sauce is the move for anyone leaning toward the meatier end of the menu.
And then there’s the soufflé. The Grand Marnier soufflé is the dessert that closes out a special-occasion meal here, rising tall out of its ramekin and arriving with the kind of theater that makes a table stop talking for a second when it lands. It’s the dish that shows up in review after review as the reason to save room, and paired with a glass from Lavendou’s award-winning list, it’s as good a reason as any to book the table.
That wine list leans hard into Bordeaux and Burgundy, and it’s part of why Lavendou’s wine dinners have become a fixture on the North Dallas dining calendar. The restaurant has run a wine dinner nearly every month this year, featuring Neal Family Vineyards in May and Barons de Rothschild Champagne in June. The next one, A Taste of Burgundy, is set for Thursday, July 30. Seating is limited, and past dinners have sold out in the days before the event, so anyone interested should call the restaurant directly at (972) 248-1911 to reserve a spot.
The Wine Spectator honor lands alongside a handful of other recent recognitions for the restaurant, including nominations for Best French Restaurant, Best Dallas Restaurant, Best Dining Restaurant, and Best Date Night Spot in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s reader poll. For a restaurant closing in on thirty years in North Dallas, that’s not a comeback story. It’s just Pascal Cayet doing the same thing he’s been doing since 1996, consistently enough that the awards keep finding him.
