Inspired by a golden age of luxury train travel, Le PasSage has steamed into the city as the lavish new jewel in Travis Street Hospitality’s formidable crown.
Travis Street Hospitality was founded by Stephan Courseau and Daniele Garcia, celebrated figures in Dallas dining, alongside managing partners Bruno Davaillon and Edward Goemans. The Dallas restaurant group responsible for Le Bilboquet, Knox Bistro and Georgie, has put its distinguished culinary stamp on the posh luxury lifestyle development The Terminal at Katy Trail.
Opened in tandem with its stylish but more casual sister concept Rose Café at Le PasSage, the restaurant represents a new level of sophisticated dining grounded in French technique – Travis Street’s winning signature formula.
Travis Street Hospitality’s culinary director Bruno Davaillon oversees executive chef Hou Lam “Dicky” Fung, a Hong Kong native who previously spent 15 years as corporate executive chef for the celebrity-magnet Mr. Chow collection of international Chinese restaurants. Fung’s menu highlights include shaking beef (made with grass-fed filet mignon), green prawns with cashew, gochujang roasted chicken, Dover sole with lemongrass butter, Peking duck served with pancakes, and ginger scallion whole lobster for two. For dessert, pastry chef Dyan Ng (who previously worked for Davaillon at Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas as well as at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas), offers a delicate yogurt ice cream with mushroom caramel and almond cookie.
Adding to the experience are two local star bartenders, George Kaiho and Travis Street Hospitality executive mixologist, Mario Martinez, who curates evocative Asian-flavored cocktails. Signature cocktails are Memoirs of a Geisha, which Le PasSage’s take on a margarita inspired by Japanese flavors. Company beverage director Daniel Bowman, a Certified Sommelier celebrated for his work at Georgie, has built a diverse selection of over 185 wine labels and more than 40 sakes.
The day before she was to begin culinary studies at Le Cordon Bleu, Dyan Ng accepted a job in the pastry department as a top chef at a popular Los Angeles restaurant. She never looked back. That first job with chef Eric Klein at Maple Drive in Beverly Hills catapulted her 20-year career in Michelin-star restaurants working with superstar chefs in the highest culinary realms. Born in the Philippines of Chinese and Filipino descent, the California-raised Ng blossomed in the kitchen culture where her creativity advanced her through a series of prestigious posts. That work includes Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas, Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas, and Francois Payard’s Payard Patisserie & Bistro in Las Vegas. Her affiliation with Caesars Entertainment also led to overseeing bread and pastry programs at Caesars Palace, and later to work with Michael Mina Group in Baltimore. She returned to California to open Auburn in Los Angeles, which after a year of service was closed during the pandemic. Her association with chef Bruno Davaillon at Michelin-star Mix in Las Vegas led to a move to Dallas to join the Travis Street Hospitality team. Overseeing pastry programs at Le PasSage and sister restaurant Rose Café, Ng has already earned raves for creations such as brioche donuts with tea-infused sabayon; mango pudding topped with almond tofu and Thai chili; a layering of coconut tapioca, pandan-infused purple potato and coconut gelee; and her signature porcini mushroom caramel with yogurt ice cream and almond sable cookie. Her initial love of the savory side of culinary, as well as a palate influenced by Asian cultures, play out in Ng’s extraordinary, vivid, multi-faceted dessert creations.
The classic kitchen ascendency story lives in chef Reyes. The San Diego native began his culinary career in humble fashion, as a dishwasher in a small California steakhouse. His passion for restaurant life advanced him through multiple local restaurants, working every station in the kitchen (eventually as a line cook) and led to a degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, Calif. His resume includes six years at Juniper & Ivy, the San Diego restaurant that during his tenure earned a Bib Gourmand designation from Michelin Guide. In 2023 Reyes moved to Dallas to work at Cry Wolf; that restaurant’s closure brought him to the acclaimed Georgie under executive chef R.J. Yoakum. His skill and creativity (abetted by his butchering expertise) did not go unnoticed by Travis Street Hospitality, which tapped him for the company’s newest projects, Le PasSage and Rose Café at Le PasSage. Reyes still gets a rush watching sharp knives and hot flames dance in the kitchen. Those initial sparks that fueled his fine dining career continue to burn brightly.
Born and raised in Sacramento, California, Tran may be new to Texas but hardly a stranger to the world of fine dining hospitality. While studying marine science at California State University, Monterey Bay, Tran’s first taste of restaurant work was at the landmark Cypress Inn at Carmel- By-The-Sea. In the six years there, she transitioned from host to cocktail server to assistant manager to food-and-beverage manager. Her interest in wine led to becoming a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2021. She took her wine knowledge to Napa Valley where at Press Restaurant in St. Helena she served as captain, maître d’ and assistant manager, contributing to the restaurant’s first Michelin star. That position brought her to the attention of Travis Street Hospitality which entrusted her to lead the teams for the high-profile openings of Le PasSage and Rose Café at Le PasSage as assistant general manager. Tran's passions for service, wine and the “entire ecosystem of hospitality” continue to guide her work in leading Travis Street’s newest, biggest projects.
As bar programs increasingly play a more prominent role in restaurant dining, Mario is at the forefront of the evolving craft cocktail and creative beverage movement. He comes to his role as executive mixologist uniquely qualified for enhancing the guest experience throughout Travis Street Hospitality’s concepts. His bartending career began in 2009 in Dallas at Gloria’s Latin Cuisine where he worked for seven years. He filled out his resume with stints at Mexican Sugar, Knox Bistro and Hide Bar. In 2019 he returned to Travis Street Hospitality as executive mixologist, armed with a deep understanding of service and an appreciation for the spirits, flavors and techniques employed in the world’s most celebrated bar programs. While overseeing all Travis Street bartenders, Martinez has stamped the hospitality group’s concepts with innovation, creativity and a high level of execution and consistency. The joys of an expert cocktail are evident throughout the Travis Street Hospitality brands – a distinction in which Martinez revels in his everyday approach to the art of his craft.
In shaping the visual design of Travis Street Hospitality restaurants, Garcia is responsible for the distinctive ambiance and creative messaging of a brand portfolio that has become indelibly linked with the best of Dallas fine dining. With her husband, co-founder Stephan Courseau, Garcia has worked to create and establish important facets of the guest experience, from logos and menus to the overall interior design – the look and feel of each concept that are essential to brand identity and customer loyalty. Beginning with Knox Bistro (opened in 2017), Garcia took on a larger role in defining the design standards of the hospitality group’s projects that would include Georgie, The Georgie Butcher Shop, Le PasSage and Rose Café at Le PasSage. Garcia’s vision reflects her artistic background and training as a visual storyteller. She comes to the restaurant business with a strong academic foundation: a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University where she majored in art history and painting. Her eye for detail is evident in everything from staff uniforms and floral arrangements to the colors, textiles, lighting and furnishings that make the restaurants special. Though each is unique, they share a common thread: Garcia’s and Courseau’s love of travel and appreciation for beauty. The aesthetic that governs Travis Street concepts is Garcia’s distinctive signature – written the highest standards of sophisticated design fused with the art of hospitality.
If there’s something grand, sweeping and even cinematic about Edward Goemans’ day-to-day oversight of some of Dallas’ beloved, buzziest restaurants it’s for good reason. The onetime auteur traded a lucrative career in Hollywood for a starring role in the hospitality industry. After studying film at New York University, Goemans spent more than a dozen years working for some of the biggest names in the motion picture business, first at assistant to producer Scott Rudin, then as an executive at Paramount Pictures working under CEO Sherry Lansing. Throughout a career the resulted in 30 productions (as vice president of production at Paramount he shepherded hits such as “School of Rock,” “Four Brothers” and “Nacho Libre”), Goemans developed a fascination with the restaurant business. When he decided to make a life change – wanting a better work/life balance and starting a family – he moved to Dallas in 2009 where he nurtured a dream of having his own restaurant. In order to learn the restaurant business from the ground up, Goemans became a server at the legendary farm-to-table restaurant Bolsa. During his three years there he met Courseau who persuaded him to help open his first restaurant, Le Bilboquet. Instead of opening his own restaurant Goemans became a partner and integral part of Travis Street Hospitality. A dozen years later he remains in the pivotal role of overseeing day-to-day operations of all the company’s restaurants. “The unifying element between making movies and working in hospitality is the singular focus on always taking care of your ‘talent’ and your ‘guests,’” Goemans said. “It’s critically important that your number one asset in your business – in the case of restaurants, your guests – feel embraced, taken care of, and emotionally invested in the experience.”
You can take the boy out of France, but you can’t take France out of the boy. Born in the Loire Valley and raised in farm-to-table traditions ingrained in his soul, the classically trained chef has carved out a stellar career that has taken him from august restaurants in Paris, London and Los Angeles to presiding over a Michelin-star restaurant, Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas. In 2009, Texas came calling: Davaillon assumed the culinary reins at the renowned Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek where during his six-year tenure he earned his first James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef: Southwest in 2012. His work as executive chef of Bullion restaurant brought him more recognition: named Restaurant of the Year by D Magazine in 2018 and a James Beard semifinalist nod (again, for Best Chef: Southwest) in 2019. Today, as executive chef of Knox Bistro and culinary director for Travis Street Hospitality where is mastery of French technique has distinguished the restaurant group and dramatically enhanced Dallas’ culinary profile. Under his direction, Travis Street’s Knox Bistro and Georgie both earned Recommended dining status in Michelin Guide’s first Texas survey in 2024. While undeniably one of the country’s top chefs, Davaillon’s culinary philosophy remains rooted in his boyhood in France where working with farm animals and garden produce wasn’t just tradition, it was daily existence. As a chef, mentor and role model, Davaillon exemplifies leadership and a commitment to culinary excellence that have made Travis Street Hospitality restaurants (including its newest stars Le PasSage and Rose Café at Le PasSage) essential, unforgettable dining experiences.
In more than three decades as a restaurateur, the French-born Stephan Courseau has held almost every job in the hospitality industry. Arriving in New York from France in 1987 – and without knowing English – Courseau set in motion what can only be described as a true American success story. From his first job as a dishwasher, he rose through the ranks within the highly competitive New York restaurant world, leveraging his considerable charms and hospitality instincts to land key front of house responsibilities. His work with legendary chef/restaurateurs including Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten enhanced a resume that led to a pivotal role as general manager of Manhattan’s original Le Bilboquet, the French bistro renowned as much for its glamorous A-list clientele as for its signature menu dishes. After moving to Dallas in 2010 and licensing the Le Bilboquet name, Courseau and his partner and wife Daniele Garcia opened a Dallas outpost of the chic bistro in 2013. Recognizing the city’s appetite for technique-driven French cuisine (coupled with a pitch- perfect understanding of how Dallas dines and socializes), the partners established what quickly became a formidable restaurant group. Taking its name from the address of its first concept, Travis Street Hospitality has grown to include Knox Bistro (opened in 2017) and Georgie (opened in 2019) – both recognized as Recommended dining in Michelin Guide’s first Texas survey in 2024. Along with The Georgie Butcher Shop and the newest brands, sister restaurants Le PasSage and Rose Café at Le PasSage, Travis Street has grown to become a Dallas hospitality giant as well as a portfolio of distinguished businesses that have become synonymous with the city’s iconic Knox-Henderson neighborhood.
It was a single glass of Domaine de Montevac Vacqueyras – a noble, elegant red from an array of terroirs, sipped at the storied Le Pe Catelan in Paris – that did it for Daniel Bowman. From that, a career that encompassed nearly every role in hospitality (from washing dishes and bussing to front-of-the-house operations) magically distilled into a single focus on wine. Having found his passion in wine and beverage, Bowman concentrated his efforts on amassing knowledge and credentials in the often byzantine and competitive world of wine education. He passed his first exam in the Court of Master Sommeliers at a young age and has continued with the Certified Sommelier exam as well as the rigorous Advanced Knowledge Assessment. Next step: the Advanced Theory exam. A board member with the Dallas Sommelier Society, Bowman has traveled extensively (Japan, Europe, Mexico) to sharpen his food and wine knowledge. After joining Travis Street Hospitality in 2021, Georgie earned Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence. In 2024, Knox Bistro and Le Bilboquet both achieved Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence. Bowman’s work throughout the broad range of Travis Street concepts is marked by a continued commitment to delighting and surprising guests with the worldly pleasures beverage bring to the fine dining experience.
