May 26, 2007 The Afternoon Set at Zen in Austin Ranch

Today’s event was the “Afternoon Set” at Zen Restaurant/Bar so named because its hours were 2pm – 6pm. Though advertisements for the event list a Dallas address (6910 Windhaven Pkwy, Dallas, Texas), Zen is actually located in Denton County. On that point, let me digress for a minute.

My vision for this blog is to explore all the nightlife options that Dallas has to offer within its city limits (literally). When I first moved back to Dallas, I couldn’t get over how far away much of the nightlife seemed to be from the city. I spent my first six months living in Desoto, a city just south of Dallas. I observed that many of the area’s nightlife options were located in Addison and/or Plano (north of Dallas). Traveling to Plano from Desoto could easily require 45 minutes driving (one way) and easily $2.50 in toll fees (one way). Granted, one could argue that $5 in tolls, another $5 in gas, and 90 minutes of drive time are a small price to pay for a good time. But why am I driving past an entire city full of nightlife to do so?

Think about that for a second. I’m bypassing hundreds of restaurants, lounges, clubs, bars, and events to get to another city offering the exact same thing albeit newer, cleaner, and generally prettier. I don’t know how this came to be. I can only surmise that somehow during my 10-year absence, Dallas dropped the ball (or lost its allure) and my peers began flocking to the new yuppie/buppie havens of Plano and Collin County. I’m not suggesting the relocation/migration is a bad thing. I’m merely making an observation.

Sorry about the digression; but I can’t promise that there won’t be more. Back to the “Afternoon Set…”

Zen is a full-service restaurant and bar and today’s event is sponsored by The Legacy Group. The restaurant has the look of a converted warehouse in that the lighting, electric, and HVAC are all exposed. The interior design is pretty dark with deep, rich reds, golds, and greens, but to its credit the bar is HUGE and one of the walls is made entirely of windows. It does a good job of letting in light and lifting the mood during the day. At night I imagine it to be a place where lights are dim, drinks are flowing, and patrons come to make new acquaintances or to catch up with old ones. NOTE: Zen is not the permanent home of the Afternoon Set. It’s simply today’s choice of venue.

I arrive ten minutes before the “set” is about to start and the place is empty except for the DJ and company. Around 2:15pm people start to trickle in. If I had to guess, I would judge the patrons to be late 20s to late 30s professionals desiring a relaxed, low-key social event. Over the course of six hours, people will be coming and going all day. Event promoters expect 200+ people to come through. The DJ is playing a nice mix of current R&B/Rap and on occasion takes the playlist back to the 90s. The music is loud enough to make you want to dance, but not so loud that you can’t hold a conversation with the person sitting next to you (as evidenced by a lengthy conversation I had with the person seated next to me). CONFESSION: it’s a patio party, but I’m posted up at the bar. The patio is huge and there is plenty of seating, but it’s hot and humid outside and it keeps threatening to rain. Still, gray clouds and all, the Afternoon Set was worth braving the elements for.

What’s good about this event is that I don’t have to try too hard. You don’t have to look “glam” as if you were going to a club and/or one of the ubiquitous establishments that describes itself as “the alternative to the club.” Blue jeans are welcome. Ladies, flat shoes/sandals are perfectly fine. And if the humidity outside dictates that today’s “do” is going to look a little less “done” then it’s not the end of the world. What most impressed me about the Afternoon Set is that it was markedly “adult” – not 18 and up, not 21 and up, and not 25 and up. It was an event for adults who stopped getting “carded” a while ago.

Final Grade: B+ The Afternoon Set was a great event and I would definitely return in the future.