{"id":248789,"date":"2025-09-23T11:23:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/248789\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:23:14","slug":"whats-rainbow-cat-dallas-chef-hides-restaurant-inside-retro-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/248789\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Rainbow Cat? Dallas chef hides restaurant inside retro bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Dallas chef Misti Norris\u2019 esoteric restaurant Petra and the Beast closed<\/a> in Lakewood in late 2024, we wondered what one of Texas\u2019 gutsiest gourmands would do next<\/a>. Her next creation is decidedly more casual and comforting.<\/p>\n

Rainbow Cat is Norris\u2019 ever-changing restaurant-within-a-bar \u2014 a place where she can cook whatever she wants to. Rainbow Cat has a permanent residency inside Saint Valentine, an Old East Dallas bar near Jimmy\u2019s Food Store<\/a>. What does that mean? No longer a pop-up, Norris\u2019 technicolor treats will be available dinnertime and late-night, Wednesday through Sunday.<\/p>\n

Her menu of chicken \u201cnugs\u201d and and a bowl of cereal studded with house-made Cinnamon Toast Crunch is \u201cnostalgic comfort food\u201d with technique, as Norris explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind, it\u2019s what chefs want to eat,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Restaurant News<\/p>\n

Get the scoop on the latest openings, closings, and where and what to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Misti<\/p>\n

Misti Norris, left, created Rainbow Cat. Gabe Sanchez owns Saint Valentine, the Dallas bar where Norris’ list of ‘nostalgic comfort food’ is sold.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

And they are: Saint Valentine, owned by barman Gabe Sanchez (of Black Swan Saloon), is already a service-industry bar. Add in Spam and pastrami musubi and shrimp toast on house-made focaccia from Norris, and the Rainbow-Cat-at-Saint-Valentine menu has become a hangout for chefs, servers and bartenders after work.<\/p>\n

The menu includes the Unicorn Dog, an on-brand name for a concept without much branding. It\u2019s a house-made sausage served with crispy rice, pickled peppers, hot mustard and more.<\/p>\n

\"Here's<\/p>\n

Here’s Sour Patch, not a candy dish, but an offering of three pickled or fermented items from Rainbow Cat in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Norris became known in Dallas as a forager<\/a>, a fermenter and a low-waste cook. She saves scraps of onions and garlic, dries them out and makes onion and garlic powder, for instance.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe makes everything,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cLike every [expletive] thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The retro Saint Valentine bar in Old East Dallas was once a roast beef shop. It’s been remodeled, with moody lighting and aqua tabletops.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

He\u2019s known Norris for years, and he worked with her in 2021 and 2022 at Midnight Rambler<\/a>, when she tried out the Rainbow Cat menu as a pop-up at the downtown Dallas bar. After Saint Valentine opened in November 2023<\/a> and Petra closed a year later, he thought Saint Valentine could use a menu upgrade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called her like 15 times,\u201d he said. (He\u2019s thankful she eventually said yes.)<\/p>\n

Norris is also working as culinary director at Far Out<\/a>, a bar and restaurant near Fair Park that\u2019s unaffiliated with Saint Valentine. Without the weight of running Petra and the Beast full-time, Norris said she has time to work at Far Out and Saint Valentine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what I always wanted to do,\u201d Norris said of the transition from Petra and the Beast\u2019s finer-dining food to more casual fare. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Petra] became almost intimidating, and I never wanted it to be that,\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, if she wants to do something new, she can,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

Read: Don\u2019t fall in love with a dish. The menu will change on a whim \u2014 and it has since this Dallas Morning News interview.<\/p>\n

Soon, Rainbow Cat will serve pizza. And possibly brunch with to-go cocktails.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In this August 2025 photo, a serving of whipped sour cream and onion pimento cheese, garlic chive and dill oil is surrounded by chef Misti Norris’ Magic Molly Potato Chips at Rainbow Cat in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Steve Hamm \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

The menu includes rotating desserts that are secretly cheffy. A recent peanut butter chocolate bar comes with potato chips on top, house-made, of course. But also dusted in glitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability for people to eat food at this pedigree, in a relaxing setting? It\u2019s rare,\u201d Sanchez said. <\/p>\n

He corrects himself: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainbow Cat\u2019s food is served inside Saint Valentine, a bar at 4800 Bryan St., Dallas. Open five days a week, dinner and late-night only, starting at 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Dallas chef Misti Norris\u2019 esoteric restaurant Petra and the Beast closed in Lakewood in late 2024, we…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":248790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,27144,1596,2105,38780,9733,9063,988,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-248789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-chefs","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-old-east-dallas","13":"tag-restaurant-news","14":"tag-restaurant-openings","15":"tag-restaurants","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115253360190205557","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}