From Fair Park to Victory Park, chef Kendall Williams has spent the last 10 years feeding Dallas.
Williams began her culinary journey as a child, watching her father and grandmother cook, absorbing every bit of wisdom they imparted, either verbally or by demonstration. By the time she was 13, Williams cooked a family dinner all by herself—Thanksgiving dinner, to be precise. In the years after, she graduated high school, went on to Texas Woman’s University to earn a history degree, enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College), and traveled the world. All the while, she cooked for pleasure.
“I’ve only ever loved three things my whole life: fashion, cooking, and history,” says Williams, who is also a fashion designer. Her varied career has taught her to push the limits of her creativity and work harder than she ever imagined. “I learned that I can do anything if I put my mind to it.”
In 2019, Williams created a catering company called Pretty Tasty Foods, followed by Pretty Tasty Pasta. In 2024, she opened a booth at the State Fair of Texas called So Eggciting. One year later, she achieved something many state fair vendors have attempted unsuccessfully for years. She took home one of the most coveted of all State Fair honors: the Big Tex Choice Award for Most Creative, for her Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders.
Deviled eggs are also a highlight of her repertoire at her newly opened Bluebonnet & Thyme Southern Bistro & Bar. It’s a new place for Williams to share food that she calls a “Cajun and Texas culinary explosion.”
“My family is from Louisiana, but we live in Texas now,” she says. “Some things that I do the Texas way and some things I do the Louisiana way. It just depends what I find better.”
Step into the restaurant and you’ll immediately understand the Texas connection. Leather banquettes and blue chairs bring coziness to the contemporary interiors, surrounded by walls adorned with cowboy hats, stars, longhorn skulls, and original art, including a large portrait of a cowboy and cowgirl in a seductive embrace.
Louisiana makes its presence known on the menu more than the decor. Start with the half-dozen deviled egg starter, and you’ll get six different interpretations, including a distinctively Cajun seafood boil option. That style sits alongside Texas BBQ, hot honey chicken, birria taco, smoked salmon, and smoked paprika, the most traditional.
You’ll also find Gulf Coast croquette sliders with remoulade, a two-pound roasted Gulf red snapper over dirty rice, Chef Kendall’s Cajun Cream Pasta with shrimp, chicken, andouille sausage, and peppers, and a family-recipe banana pudding.
For a nice cross-section of the menu and Williams’ culinary style, she recommends starting with the Citrus Garden Martini, a crisp, refreshing cocktail made with vodka, elderflower, lime, and orange.
“Then the birria empanadas. For the entrée, I would say the Golden Fried Hen, and for dessert, the homemade banana pudding,” she says. “For brunch, it’s definitely the catfish, shrimp, and grits.”
Because of Bluebonnet & Thyme’s location near the American Airlines Center and House of Blues Dallas, it’s an obvious choice to dine before or after a concert or game. But Williams wants to make sure people think about her restaurant even when there’s not a major event in the district.
“You’re getting home-cooked food from the heart. I put everything I have into this, and I mean that with my heart and my soul,” she says. “I cook from love, and I want people to come enjoy my food.”
Bluebonnet & Thyme Southern Bistro is now open for dinner daily, with weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are available via OpenTable, and diners can enjoy three hours of complimentary parking at 1701 Payne St. with a code provided by the restaurant.
Bluebonnet & Thyme Southern Bistro, 610 N. Houston St. Dallas, bluebonnetandthyme.com
