Restaurant review: Dali Wine Bar and Cellar

One of the best features of Dali Wine Bar and Cellar is its expansive patio with spectacular downtown views.

When you hear the name “Dali” from now on, images of melting watches and creepy faces on sticks will forever be replaced in your memory by new visions of spectacular beauty and artistic talent.

And, of course, you know us. We’re talking works of edible art.

One of the best features of Dali Wine Bar and Cellar is its expansive patio with spectacular downtown views, and the glorious fall weather so far has made it all the more enjoyable.

The wine list is one of Dali’s obvious draws, but the food is truly its masterpiece.

For starters, the Pan Seared Quail is an amazing creation, rendering the tiny bird the most flavorful, succulent sample we’ve tasted anywhere in Dallas. In fact, it was so good, we wanted to pick it up and pull the pieces of juicy meat right off the bone.

Equally deft in culinary execution were the Chardonnay Steamed Scallops atop sunchoke and hearts of palm salad, for a lighter prelude to the heartier choices further down the menu.

Quick tip: skip the steak and seafood (even though they’re all delicious) and bone up on the two most stunning cuts of meat on the menu, the Grilled Rack of Veal or the Braised Lamb Shank. Each selection was cooked to perfection and topped with its own simple-yet-imaginative demi-glace to enhance the velvety texture and rich flavor of the meat.

Once again, bone sucking was pondered.

But there wasn’t time. We had to save room for dessert.

Now, you can never go wrong with the molten-chocolate-whatever on any restaurant’s menu, so we opted for the most intriguing: the Butterscotch Pudding. One bite and we were ready to slap Billy Cosby, stand up and sing its praises!

Served with almond-graham cracker cookie and cinnamon cream, it’s an unexpected winner, and the perfect exclamation point on a wonderful meal.

Well, the pudding and a couple of bottles of champagne.