Men’s magazine Esquire ranks Fearing’s in Dallas as Restaurant of the Year

mizery, says:

Nice post.

kirk, says:

Nice comment, Mizery.

Billusa99, says:

Will Scarlett Johansson be on that cover again, in black lace? My wife lets me keep those issues.

Nice comment, Bill.

mizery, says:

Kirk: Back to you: Nice comment.

twisteddog, says:

nice comment on mizery's follow up comment, TG.

Billusa99, says:

tingthing... please try the ferret at Ferrings. I'm told it sings!

Scott, says:

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). In addition to the more striking presentation (when served "feet on," as in the Fearing's entree), the black-footed ferret has a much more developed flavor, often compared to its Mustelid cousin, the Tuscan Stoat (which Brillat-Savarin described as "the most perfumed of all beasts").

I know, I know. You're thinking, "Isn't the native Texas black-footed ferret endangered?" Yes, it is. But the ferrets served at Fearing's are culled from the free-range herds produced in the captive-breeding program at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. (They're also the ones behind the Fearing's appetizer of "Lesser Prairie Chicken hot wings with heirloom chipotle ranch mousse.") Eating a ferret at Fearing's furthers recovery of the species.

The ferrets are never caged. They freely forage for non-GMO native rodents. They are never spayed, neutered, de-clawed, or de-scented. As Michael Pollan wrote in the April Atlantic Monthly: "Unlike the wan, sickly, morose-looking farmed ferrets I would have seen in the crowded aluminum barns in the midwest (had ADM responded to my requests for a tour), the black-footed ferrets I saw at Fossil Rim were doing what ferrets were meant to do--digging holes, rubbing their asses against stuff, copulating with staggering regularity (and obvious relish), and running wild and free--up until they were netted, gutted, and fabricated for Fearing's."

You can knock Mariani all you want. Just because he announces himself before visiting restaurants and demands that the restaurants cover his travel and food doesn't mean that he's biased in any way. And, when you're as experienced as he is, it may only require a single meal (or possibly only a skim of the menu) to take in the full measure of a restaurant.

The fact of the matter is that Mariani is right about Fearing's. I challenge the nay-sayers to offer up one other restaurant with a better bone-in ferret dish.

kirk, says:

I think you are absolutely right about the need for free-range ferrets in order for a restaurant to approach the perfection of Fearing's fricassee de furet du foret.

Harold McGee explains the difference between the meat of farm-raised ferrets and free-range (or even better, feral) ferrets on pp. 127 - 137 of On Food and Cooking (2004). "The heme group, a carbon-ring structure at the center of homoglobin and myoglobin molecules that holds oxygen for us by the animals body cells" is responsible for the fabulous flavor of feral Finnish ferrets. (I am paraphrasing, of course, but McGee often lapses into incomprehensible flights of fancy when it comes to ferrets. Weasels, in my opinion, are McGee's achilles heel; also Mark Bittman's.)

I will accept your challenge: There is one place where I have had bone-in ferret finer than Fearing's was at Ferran Adria's fraternal twin's festival of foamy Frisian flavors, Aux Pissoir de Mon Oncle Fernand."

DC, says:

damn nihilists

mizery, says:

Ferret smerit. Weasel is the dish.

Great review, Scott.

kirk, says:

Billusa99 started it.

charlotte_ruse, says:

I disagree Miz Ery. Weasel tastes too much like a common tabby. Ferret is closer to Siamese.

sisterhazel, says:

Between 1992 and 1999 there was a restaurant chain in New England called the Road Kill Cafe which pretended to serve road killed animals. I believe Weasel was a top seller on their menu.

A problem with eating road kill, however, is the tendency for small particles of bone from impact to be embedded in the surrounding tissue.

mizery, says:

I've heard that to protect his anonymity, a must for restaurant reviewers, Mariani visited Fearing's disguised as a Park Cities matron. Can anyone verify?

Scott, says:

Mizery,

As the waiter explained it to me, long-tailed weasel (i.e., Mustela frenata, also a Texas native) was used for some pre-opening events--e.g., confit on bruschetta with a dab of epazote creme fraiche, sous vide weasel hocks with wilted dandelion greens and chiltecpin "air," and cracklings over a corn pot de creme in a wryly named "Pop goes the weasel" pre-dessert.

Some of the anonymous comment cards they got back were less than positive: "Oily flesh;" "Explain to me why I'm supposed to want to eat a weasel"; "At these prices, I want to eat something endangered (or at least threatened)"; "Musky, in a neglected litter-box sort of way"; "It's a good thing you put me up in the Presidential Suite and sent Heidi and Svetlana up, or the readers of Esquire would hear all about the 'weasel rinds in a cup o' corn sludge.'"

Johnny_Stecchino, says:

Which wine with Ferret? how about a little bubbly? Cavas Ferret.

Tasting Notes~ Clean, quite intense nose of tiertary aromas, with an underlying fruit complexity. Full bodied dry wine. Well balanced acidity and integrated sweet tannins. Rich and warm on the palate, with developing fruit complexity that gently lingers.

Got a little cottenmouth? There you go!

kirk, says:

When Tennessee passed legislation (in 1999) making it legal for its citizens to harvest road kill, there was a commemorative bumper sticker saying "Cat -- The Other White Meat."

Mizery: I think the Fearing's staff mistook Wick Allison for John Mariani.

Billusa99, says:

I'm taking my wife to Fearing's for her birthday is a couple of weeks. Which room is the Ferring's room, so I can request a seat there and get the the Tuscan Stoat?

As an aside, when we were honeymooning in Tuscany a couple of years back, they said that they were in the midst of a severe ferret shortage. They had resorted to importing nutria from Louisiana instead. An unforeseen result was the local dialect was changing -- Vespa riders were tooling about shouting "where y'at, babe" and "ciao, bella" was slowly becoming a lost art form.

Billusa99, says:

PS... the actual cover of this month's Esquire has Charlize Theron. So, I'll get to keep it too.

kirk, says:

*Vespa riders were tooling about shouting "where y'at, babe"*

F'true, bra? Betcho face was K&B purple when y'all heard dat!

Billusa99, says:

Well, no Ferret Room, but we certainly got a room with a VIEW! We called it the Taj Mahal view, as we were the only table placed at the end of a pool, dead center in the courtyard. Must have been because I put "celebrating my wife's birthday" in the OpenTable rez. notes.

Outstanding service -- personally greeted by name 3 times by three different people. Desk staff, waiter, sommelier. Ditto for "Happy birthday Ms. Billusa99." 5 star all the way there.

Food was pricey (expected that, of course) and very, very good. They need to ditch the onion rings with the lamb chops, though, and give a better starch that does not cool down in 5 minutes. Perhaps the same potatoes that go with the filet and lobster. They comp'ed us a choc. cake for the BD gal, too!

Dean was working the room hard, like a one-armed paper-hanger. He never stopped to rest and he hit our table twice, no less.

Definitely worth a visit again for a special event.

See Taj Mahal view here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v72...

PS... there were these 2 guys in black suits with 2-way radio ear pieces and mics clipped to their suit jacket. Anyone know if this is Ritz security or was someone special there with their own? PPS... lots of Angelina Jolie botoxed wanna-be's hanging at the bar. They must have been there to rescue the "Jesus Saves" conventioneers in the main floor ballroom... ;-)

Billusa99, says:

Ms. B had the "spiced" tenderloin and lobster tail that's flash-fried (chicken fried) in a tempura batter (same as the rings). Both were great. I would say that the rare tenderloin was quite likely the best we have ever had. You could almost cut it with a fork it was so tender. Also came with a spinach enchilaa that was touched by some heat (chili oil?) -- quite unique!

Yes... I had the wood-grilled coriander-rubbed lamb chops on sweet and sour eggplant and the rings. Two of them. Extremely meaty and tasty and cooked to perfection. But, there should have been 3 given what the surf & turf plate had for basically the same money ($40+).

The eggplant sure looked and tasted like zuchinni to me (!?). Nothing out of this world. They need to trick up that plate so the lamb is not left so alone, compared to the cow.

We started with BBQ'ed bluepoint oysters with artichokes, spinach and crab meat. They are a trick on the ones you can die in heaven for at Dragoe's in New Orleans. Four for 20 bucks. Very good and very unique -- for Dallas. Just another menu item 500 miles southeast of here.

Bread was multi-grain rolls, cheese-cornbread muffins and sourdough. The first two were very fresh and tasty. The sourdough was fresh too, but nothing special.

Wine is Ritz-overpriced. But there are some deals. We had a decent Sonoma Pinot for $73 -- Keller Estate 2003. It retails for about $30.

There was a vaguely familiar, old white-haired dude in the restaurant, surrounded by botox. Maybe he was the celeb.