Every year Dallas’ premier restaurants take part in Dining Out In Dallas, an annual fundraiser benefiting The Texas Neurofibromatosis Foundation. DFW chefs each donate a table for 10 to be bid on & the proceeds go to this excellent cause. This year, we had the pleasure of getting a table at Local with family & good friends. In one word, it was delightful. In a lot more words, here’s the rundown of the full menu & how it went down…
Warmed nuts were a salty prelude to the meal & a gentle reminder to never underestimate the goodness of a homemade snack mix. Fried green beans were the first starter & paired nicely with a Chardonnay Terrazas Reserva ‘07 from Spain. The green beans were dipped in a flavorful batter & served with a ranch sauce for dipping. Delicious & unexpected—they’re as salty & addictive as their potato counterparts.
Amuse-Bouche: A cream soup (broccoli?) with crispy fried leeks. Comforting & nice, even though I can’t remember exactly what flavor the soup was. Cream of…cream.
Short Order First Course: Eden Creek baby arugula salad, with brown sugar sauteed asian pears, crumbled Pure Luck dairy blue cheese, toasted pistachios, and a honey-balsamic vinaigrette.
Wine: Riesling Thomas Schmitt ‘04 – Germany
From the description, you can tell this salad was very sweet. It might have been too much so, but the bites of blue cheese & salted pistachios—as well as the wine—added balance. The pears were perfection & everyone at our table was impressed with the honey vinaigrette.
Short Order Second Course: Seared Hudson Valley foie gras, house-made Texas toast, fresh fig and madeira compote
Wine: Rioja Luis Canas Crianza ‘04 – Spain
The surprise of the night. I’ve had foie gras once, possibly twice before this point. I couldn’t remember the difference between pate & foie gras because the two had sort of combined in my mind in the “not great, but you can bear it” category. This foie gras came like a ray of light—a major epiphany. I loved it. With the figs, it was perfectly perched between sweet and salty…incredibly soft and tender…rich and luxurious in texture. Liver? Really? Yeah, you heard me. It’s awesome.
Tall Order: Grilled grass-fed beef tenderloin filet, creamy Anson Mills grits, flash-fried spinach, roasted garlic-butter balsamic finish
Wine: Bordeaux Chateau Mouton Jean Philippe ‘03 – France
Everything in this dish was excellent. My filet was served rare; Brian’s was more medium-rare, so there was a little variance in the cooking. No matter because both filets were supernaturally tender. The grits were creamy & the spinach was a perfect compliment. This dish was the highlight of Local’s skill in the arena of New American cuisine.
Baby Desert Tasting: Warm mini chocolate souffle, brownie cookies, Ovaltine-spiked chocolate malt, spiced cake donut holes
Wine: Moscato d’asti Marenco Scrapona
Whimsical and delicious, it’s one of the best mini-dessert plates I’ve ever had. Usually there’s at least one dessert that falls short, but that wasn’t the case here. The chocolate souffle was rich, indulgent, and actually just the right size. The shake was lovely, the brownie cookies were far beyond what I was expecting, and the donut holes were a playful take on an American classic. I loved the sparkling moscato. So sweet & refreshing, it could stand on its own if served as dessert.
At the end of our meal, just when we thought it was over, a final parting bite arrived at the table: homemade thumbprint cookies with a cranberry-chutney center. One little bite…tart & sweet…it was like a farewell wave & a reminder to come back again for more.
2936 Elm Street | Dallas, TX 75074
214.752.7500
What the… It’s been a long time since we’ve updated! Good news though is that there’s a lot in the works: an interview with a local chef, a new correspondent, etc. Great stuff, so stay tuned.
Lately it seems like there’s been a lot of new places opening in the metroplex. We’ve tried Park a couple of times; it’s the newest opening in the restaurant-loaded Knox/Henderson area. It’s a really charming place that doesn’t need a glowing review from us. (It was packed both weekends we went.) But Park isn’t just about location, location, location. Their food is simple, but good and their drinks? Even better.
What I initially liked about Park was their outdoor patio. Sitting on a tree stump under strings of white lights, I felt like I was eating in a little urban forest. It’s very cute. Smitten for the ambiance, I also fell for Park’s philosophy on food. They have a rooftop herb garden, try to use a lot of local and organic products, and prepare their dishes to be uncomplicated and delicious.
The panzanella is a beautiful stack of local mozzarella, tomatoes, brioche, and a portabello pesto. It’s not groundbreaking cuisine, but it was delicious. The Live Oak Picnic Basket was unbelievably good: Windy Meadow Farms roast chicken, creamy fingerling potato salad, flaky biscuits, and a side of honey served in a red and white checkered basket. The Jones Taco Platter was a straight-forward presentation of a nice taco plate with short rib, chicken, and black bean varieties.
Food aside, Park would still be a destination I would visit because of their unique cocktail menu. A lot of them had savory components. Take the “Garfunkle”; it’s a gin collins with mint and ginger. The “Little Wing” was mixed with Hendricks, cucumber, basil, and a dash of cranberry.
My favorite was the “Marsha Marsha Marsha” with cognac, muddled blackberries, and sparkling white wine. Summer in a glass. Sangria by the pitcher was a good deal after we did the math and we were happy with it.
Crème brulée was an evening special and it was arguably one of the best I’ve had at a restaurant. Although, I’m really a bad judge because crème brulée is one of my favorite desserts and I love it most of the time
So to sum this all up: Park has a lot going for it. What’s not working in their favor, they really can’t help. The weekend clientele is kinda what you’d except for that area. If you’re not there to to see and be seen, it’s a little hard to just chill. Good for their businness, but it’s why I liked Park better on a Tuesday when we could enjoy that pretty patio in peace.
1921 Henderson Ave.
Dallas 75206
214.824.3343
Dinner last night was a feast; it made me realize I need more Mediterranean food in my life. Four of us went to Fadi’s and decided to get sampler platters to split so we could try a little of everything. It was excellent. For $13.99, you should get the Ultimate Sampler. Go through the line and choose tasting portions of whatever you like: hummus, fresh and roasted veggies, salads, plus, you get one choice of meat. We split two samplers and added sides of rice and pita bread for dipping. We were, at first, unsure if just two plates were going to be enough for all of us, but it ended up being more than enough.
I loved getting to try tastes of everything. I don’t eat Mediterranean food very often, and when I do I tend to order the same thing. (Chicken Shawerma, anyone?) So this opportunity was a great one to try a broader range of dishes. One of the highlights? Their tabuli was so packed with fresh herbs (green onions, parsley, mint), it was completely green. Delicious. Cucumber, tomatoes, onions, mint and lemon juice made up a refreshing Lebanese salad that I could’ve eaten by the pint. Their hummus and baba ghanoush were tasty, but nothing out of the usual. A dish of spicy chicken was moist and very flavorful, accompanied by sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes. (My only caveat was that it wasn’t really spicy.) Roast potatoes are usually foolproof, and Fadi’s didn’t fall short. Their version was tossed in olive oil, coriander, and parsley(?). Strangely my favorite bite was the cauliflower. Yeah, you heard me. With all of those interesting, complex dishes, my favorite was roasted cauliflower. But you have to trust me on this. It’s buttery and a little spicy; it’s completely delicious. I asked my friend Matt to split his last floret with me. It’s that good.
Visit Fadi’s, try everything, and while we’re on the subject–what other Mediterranean restaurants would you recommend? I’ve heard great things about Kavala, but have yet to try. It’s high on the list though. Any other sugggestions?
3001 Knox St. #110 | Dallas, TX 75205
214.528.1800
(See site for other locations.)
There are two reasons why I love a great salad. The first being that it makes me think I’m eating healthy, because somewhere in our culinary history the word “salad” became synonymous with “healthy.” Now while this can be true, I’m more a fan of the salads that are hiding bits of unhealthy underneath their shrouds “health.” My second reason for loving salads is their kinship to the burrito. I love burritos because they round up all the ingredients that I savor from the Mexican side of things, and put them into a nice little container for me to eat them in. Now the salad lacks that solidifying wrapper, but it still carries the characteristics of bringing together a bunch of different singular ingredients and tossing them together for my enjoyment. To make up for the tortilla, usually a few slices of bread will do, but it isn’t a deal breaker. Happily, Eno’s manages to pull off a great faux-healthy salad (with bread to boot), which is why I can fully get behind their Italian Chopped Arugula Salad.
First off, from the picture you can see they threw in some bread, so immediately I was excited when the salad landed at our table. The components were all delectable, local and fresh: from the tasty ham to the perfectly cured olives, and back to the delightful artichokes and bacon confit. The ingredients are brought together around fresh arugula and then solidified with an oregano vinaigrette that was never overpowering, but complimented the rest of the salad to perfection. The size of salad was also pleasing, large and full of plenty of the ingredients. Nothing is worse than when a salad says it has (insert favorite ingredient) in it and then when it arrives at the table you find five in the whole thing. This salad had plenty of everything and made for a perfect shared starter before the main course of delicious thin crusted pizza.
Like I said, I’m a huge fan of the salad and Eno’s captures my need and exceeded my expectation with this dish. There’s nothing like a fresh tasty salad before a few slices of tasty pizza, continually accompanied by crisp glasses of cold micro brews. Go check out Eno’s the next time you are down in Bishop’s Art District, you won’t be disappointed.
Price: $10
407 N. Bishop Street | Dallas, Texas 75208
214.943.9200
[So I know the 'Best Burger In Town' thing has been done before and probably before that, and there even a few dedicated sites dealing with just the burger. Despite all that, the little dish feels like we need to weigh in on the subject. Being from California, home of the In-N-Out, I grew up loving cheese burgers. Since then I have always been a fan, and as a fan, I am always searching for the best and tastiest burger around. Moving to Dallas presented a new opportunity in the wake of a travesty (no more In-N-Outs). So not being able to get my weekly fix of Double-Doubles, I needed to make amends with my stomach and search out some suitable replacements here in the Lone Star state. I'm happy to say I have found some, and over the next month or so I will go over my favorites. I've tested burgers far and wide, expensive to cheap, beef to turkey and these are my findings...]
You might be noticing a trend here with the blue cheese. Now while I don’t discriminate against a burger if it doesn’t have any, I do prefer blue cheese and try to order a variation of it whenever I’m somewhere new. While you might think it’s unfair to compare a regular burger to one with blue cheese, I do promise to be as unbiased as possible in my overall judgment and comparisons.
The BC burger at the Meridian Room is a thick, thick burger. I’ll warn you now, it’s probably the thickest of the burgers on this round up, but in overall weight it’s comparable. It reminds me of a baseball filet: juicy, round, tall, and delicious. Now the burger is no Filet Mignon, but usually eating such a thick patty of ground beef is a tad unappetizing to me — this burger on the contrary had tons of flavor oozing out after every bite. (A warning: they seem to undercook their burgers so make sure you order it a little extra done. I order it medium which is usually perfect, but on occasion it will come out a tad too pink.) The handmade patty was seasoned to perfection, a little spicy but nothing to cause alarm. The blue cheese was top notch and was melted across the entire expanse of the burger, and when coupled with perfectly cooked meat, it resulted in a moist bite on every munch.
My sole complaint on the burger was the bun. They don’t use your standard hamburger bun here, but rather a thin-ish brioche roll. Although it’s great through the first few bites, after a little longer it gets soggy and starts to disintegrate. Now as a whole, that’s a small complaint to make, but it is definitely something to note. This is not a clean burger.
I would like to recommend their sweet potato fries. They are AWESOME. Not too sweet, and crunchy till the last one. You have to request these over the regular fries, so make sure you speak up get the right ones.
Value wise, this burger can hold it’s own against the bunch. 8 dollars flat for a delicious burger and enough fries to share. You definitely won’t be going home hungry after this meal. Another thing to note is that on Wednesdays they have half-priced food all day and night. Yeah, anything on the menu, half off. So get there early cause the place fills up quick, but you can always get a nice stiff drink while you wait, since the place is after all, a bar too.
Price: $8
The Meridian Room
3611 Parry Ave | Dallas, TX 75206
214.826.8383
MAP | DIRECTIONS
Calling this dish a “salad” seems a little like cheating. Yes, the cornucopia of ingredients is laid upon a bed of spring mixed greens. And yes, there are three types of salads involved: tuna, chicken, and pasta. However, this is hardly the kind of salad I think my trainer was talking about. No matter. The calorie splurge is definitely worth it. The three salads are seriously delicious. The chicken salad was creamy and very flavorful without being mayonnaisey.
The pasta salad consisted of shells tossed in an olive oil and pesto dressing. It was was perfectly al dente and very tasty. As far as the tuna is concerned, I was surprised. I’m not usually interested in tuna that is a.) no longer pink and b.) pulverized. However, wonder of wonders, I really liked this! It was fresh, not overly salty, and avoided the same pitfall as the chicken by not tasting like it was drenched in mayonnaise. Between the three, I couldn’t pick a favorite but I really enjoyed going back and forth between them trying to decide.
The salad is dressed with a creamy parmesan dressing, sprinkled with pinenuts, glazed pecans, and finished off with a couple of Kalamata olives and grape tomatoes. It’s a lot of flavors going on, but they all really work together well. No flavor overwhelms the other. Health food salad? Not quite. Perfect for a sunny afternoon lunch on their patio? Definitely. And if you’re an iced tea fan, you must get their black currant iced tea. It is light years beyond the usual restaurant tea. (I’ve stopped in just to get a tea to-go.)
Price: $8.79
Cafe Express
5307 E. Mockingbird Ln. | Dallas, TX 75206
Other locations in Dallas, Plano, and Southlake
The french dip is probably one of my top five favorite sandwiches of all time. Other members of this exclusive group include the philly cheesesteak and the monte cristo, but we’ll get to those another time. A french dip isn’t made of a whole lot–you basically have some bread, meat and cheese. Maybe a bit of onion strings depending on the establishment, so there isn’t a lot to go wrong with, but if you mess up on any of those–bad times. Luckily, La Madeline uses delicious roast beef, crunchy crusted bread, perfectly salted au jus sauce, and a mild cheese that blends perfectly into a mouthwatering, though a tad undersized, french dip sandwich. I say undersized because I always get the half-sand/half-soup combo, and while I always leave La Madaline filled to the brim, the half french dip always seems a little scrawny when it’s first presented to me. Anyone else? I’ll have to try and just order the sandwich next time, but I’ll be honest, if they just multiply the half by 2, I’ll be sorely disappointed and have to resort to the free bread/jam/butter to fill my emptiness (not a bad alternative actually).
Included with this meal is a surprisingly awesome pasta salad too. It’s full of all kinds of little bits of vegetables and deliciousness. Sometimes it comes out a little oily, which I think happens later in the day. On all my trips to La Madeline it seems that I only get oily pasta salad in the evening. Weird I know, but something to be aware of. Other than that, this pasta salad is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of eating and I keep telling myself it’s good for me too. It has vegetables in it — what’s more healthy than vegetables drowned in an oily delight?
UPDATE: I ate at a different LM between the time of this review and me posting it, and guess what? The pasta salad that came with my meal was completely different. WTF mate? Does this happen all the time? I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if consistent quality was an issue between different LM locations, what with all the griping and dissatisfaction I have been reading about from the food bloggers/commenters in the area. Maybe there is something to their complaints. Either way, the location on Collins in Arlington has never done me wrong, so I’ll stand by them for the time being.
La Madeline
Locations Nationwide
I’ll come right out with it. I’m a big, big fan of the blue cheese wedge salad. Studies have shown, if on your menu somewhere, you have the words salad, blue cheese, and wedge, in a semi close proximity, there’s a 87% chance I’ll order it. It really just depends on the last time I had a blue cheese wedge salad, and if it wasn’t at breakfast, then there you go. Anyway, at the Cliff Cafe next to the Belmont in Oak Cliff, I found a version of said salad and it wasn’t the best or perfect BCWS I’ve ever had, but it definitely had some promise. My two major concerns were the over cooked bacon that felt like little rocks in my mouth, and the absence of a blue cheese dressing on the menu — it was served with a balsamic vinaigrette (everyone’s trying to be different). Now the former sin cannot be forgiven — over-dried crunchy as hell bacon has no place in a fresh salad or anywhere else in the world of eats. The later problem wasn’t too much of an issue, but I definitely could have gone for a nice spicy blue cheese dressing instead. The main fault that ruined an otherwise tempting display of ingredients, was that the salad was not dressed, but rather drowned in the balsamic dressing which overpowered every other aspect of the dish. Seriously, you can’t tell from the picture, but this thing was swimming.
I’m not usually one for ‘dressing on the side’ bit, but at the Cliff Cafe my recommendation is to go that way, or try the ranch instead. It’s also a great salad to share, so step up to it as a starter on your next date to the Cliff Cafe. Then head over to the bar at the Belmont for a nice time getting boozed up on their friendly patio. It’s definitely one of the official drinkeries of the Little Dish staff.
Price: $5 – $7
Cliff Cafe
901 Fort Worth Ave. | Dallas, TX 75208
214.393.4141
