Friday, December 28, 2007

Dining out in Dallas: Best restaurant reviews of 2007

By Teresa Gubbins

In 2007, Dallas was all about steak, steak, and steak. Sushi, too. Lots of sushi. And pizza -- don't forget pizza. But we're wasting time here. Let's turn to the wit and wisdom of the Pegasus News community, nowhere more evident than in the arena of food and dining.

Herewith, 13 of the best reviews posted in '07:

1. The James-Bondian DC mingles with the Jet Set at resuscitated tiki palace Trader Vic's.

Key line: "Ok, let's face it, this is a drinking place. Food - afterthought. I'll give them props for having a proper Pimms Cup on the menu, so go, have a few Zombies so you can giggle at the bare breasted cartoon girls on the menu and enjoy yourself. I am really struggling with a way to end this that doesn't involve a comment on blue hairs. Sometimes, though, these things just write themselves."

2. Super-styley DC admires his server's highlights at Nove, the glitzy Ital-American at Victory Park.

Key line: "By now, the Vegas comparisons are ad nauseum, I know, so I'll limit my comments to the bar. What's the point in having a television in this place? It's poorly located so no one can really see it and falls completely out of place. I don't really think seeing Frinfrock rounds out the Vegas theme."

3. The feral Scott takes on the wildest of wild game at Fearing's, Dean Fearing's luxe new spot at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Key line: "Having dined at Fearing's a number of times now, I will say that the ferret is delectable. It's not at all like other ferrets you may have sampled in Dallas (e.g., the gamy loin in Nove's risotto, the dry-cured ferret-shoulder coppa at Lola, or the ferret-sirloin carpaccio at Abacus). For starters, most other restaurants use the domesticated ferret (i.e., Mustela putorius furo). Fearing's is one of only three US restaurants to use the black-footed ferret (i.e., Mustela nigripes)."

4. Crusty Twisted Dog puts up with prosciutto on his pizza at Olivella's, the artisanal pizzeria near SMU.

Key line: "I saw no tossing of dough, though it's not really necessary for pizza. Nor did I ask if the water was imported from the NYC public water supply -- which, incidentally, comes from Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Counties, and may contain radiation, substances from human and animal activities, microbial contaminants, pesticides and other tasty, dough-enhancing treats."

5. Pegasus News content partner Donna Cooks does THE definitive dissertation on dumplings at elegant Chinese restaurant Yao Fuzi.

Key line: "Having a Shanghai-native dad is definitely why I’m obsessed with xiaolongbao. It was, in my childhood, my favorite food. It was one of the only dishes my dad could not replicate at home. He could whip up plate after plate of down-home regional dishes or haute Chinese cuisine, but could never compare to the Shanghai street vendors when it came to xiaolongbao-making skills. The infrequency of consumption only furthered the addiction. A trip to Shanghai only translates to one thing in my culinary world: xiaolongbao for breakfast every day."

6. Sake-savvy DC has a religious experience at Greenville Avenue sushi temple Teppo.

Key line: "As soon as the dish arrives, I use my utterly fast chopstick skills to score the eye. It's like an extremely small egg with a very hard yolk. Really, it's a treat when it's nicely prepared. There are soft, almost melting treasures of meat all over the head, making it one of the foods I can actually say is fun to eat. I turn over the jaw for one final morsel."

7. Pegasus News content partners The Law Reviewers learn how to Google Spanish words in their review of chicken rotisserier Chic From Barcelona.

Key line: "You see, Chic from Barcelona was like a real trip to Barcelona; it was really pretty and had a nice vibe, but it was more expensive than you thought and after a few too many glasses of sangria you had a hard time converting the pesatas into Euros into dollars, your head started to hurt, the taxi driver dropped you off at the wrong hostel and… where were we? Oh yeah, reviewing a restaurant."

8. Pasta-loving Billusa99 soaks up the tip-top service at swanky Colombo haunt The Club.

Key line: "I had the 'off the menu' special -- pumpkin ravioli with lump crab in a butter sauce. Each full square had a shard of crab placed on it, and the two were like June and Johnny after a bus ride to Ontario in '68 -- engaged to be married. Pure heaven, and like pumpkin pie filling inside the ravioli. Now don't frown, because it wasn't sickly sweet, just scrumptious! The ravioli had that translucent skin quality that only comes from first-class dough. Extremely well done."

9. Dreamy DC hobnobs with the pretty people at Steel, the surprisingly resilient Asian hang in Oak Lawn.

Key line: "It's getting late, and our server asks us to settle up his tab. I guess there are better things to do than work. It's the fastest anyone moved all night. It's also called how to work one's self out of a decent tip."

10. Avant-garde Billusa99 beats the foodie pack to Cafe R&D, the newfangled casual spin-off from Houston's.

Key line: "Then came the pan-seared fish special for that night -- halibut. It's flash seared to give it a golden crisp crust and then (obviously) roasted in some sort of salamander at very high heat for a very short time. It's blazing hot, but butter smooth inside, and cooked perfectly. Which means, moist, not dry and it was fork-flaky. Sided along were smashed potatoes with sweet corn kernels wedded in and a nice beurre blanc was pooled along side, in case any of it wanted a swim."

11. Fatalistic WhitneyTM tries the tapas at the Cafe Madrid spinoff in Bishop Arts.

Key line: "We don't normally get dessert but thought if the tapas are this good... So we tried the flan, which was small but better than average, and a flourless chocolate cake that I must have again before I die."

12. Pegasus News staffer Chad investigates spectres and hush puppies at Catfish Plantation, the ostensibly haunted restaurant in Waxahachie.

Key line: "Though they were tasty, something about the flattened, chopped green beans suggested they had spent the wealth of their lifetime within a can."

13. Irrepressible tingthing gives the inside track on downtown Dallas' Anton Cafe Greek Cuisine.

Key line: "There is some enjoyment factor in listening to the comments of the guy behind the counter."

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• Food and Drink > Dining / Restaurants

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