Central 214 at Hotel Palomar in Dallas shows off new menu from chef Blythe Beck

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — The camera crew may not have shown up on Tuesday night as predicted, but the local food writer posse did -- about 40 strong -- at Central 214, the restaurant at the Hotel Palomar, for a party showcasing new menu items from chef Blythe Beck.

While there is beef carpaccio and grilled pizza on the menu, the theme is more rustic Southern: chicken-fried oysters, deviled eggs, crab cakes with jalapeno-caper mayo, spicy fried lobster with bacon-cheddar grits. The cheapest, roast chicken, is $21; most expensive is fire-grilled ribeye with wild-mushroom custard, $33.

The event attracted mostly ladies, including oodles of folks from Belo (perhaps the entire remaining editorial staff?), plus Catherine and Bob Collins from Culinary Concierge, Sarah Eveans from D Magazine, Sabrina Gunaca from Envy, someone from NBCDFW.com, Dana Driver from Fox TV, and an Albuquerque-based representative of Edible Dallas Fort Worth, attending her fourth foodie event in as many days.

The camera crew rumor circulated because Beck is the subject of a new reality show, The Naughty Kitchen. Taping starts in May.

Attendees sipped free cocktails and nibbled free bite-size snacks. Beck has said that she likes anything fried, and some of the items passed around proved that true. Her sensibility is a change of pace from the old regime, said Roy Allen, who oversees the wine program and is one of the restaurant's veteran staffers.

"It's been totally different since she joined us, compared to previous chef Tom Fleming," he said. "I see it in the wine. I'm in the process of changing up the list now. We still need to have some of the softer, elegant wines that paired with Fleming's food, but we're needing to pick up our selection of bottles with more acidity and personality, to stand up to dishes like this."

By "this," he meant the appetizer of "crispy prosciutto wrapped cheddar" ($9 on the menu). This was basically fried cheese, wrapped in a sheet of prosciutto, coated in batter, and deep-fried. It was served with two sauces: apple barbecue and spicy avocado. This was an easy dish to like. The cheese was soft and not profusely drippy, the proscuitto had a nice tang and tore away neatly. Also, it was fried.

The other appetizer passed was shrimp and cayenne deviled eggs ($10.50 on the menu), described as "sweet and spicy egg with poached shrimp". Pan-seared Diver sea scallops ($24 on the menu) were speared onto forks with a spoon of sweet corn sauce.

Not surprisingly, the show-stopper was chicken-fried Kobe steak ($28 on the menu). You could hear people telling other people, "Oh you HAVE to try the chicken-fried Kobe steak!" Glad they liked it; it did have a nice crust and the meat inside was tender. But the appeal of Kobe-style beef with all its fattiness still escapes me.

Miniature chili hot dogs, stuffed into wee hot-dog buns and slopped with a generous dose of crumbled-beef chili, were a cute spin on the slider. Central 214's lunch menu has sliders with mini tuna burgers on baby brioche buns.

Desserts included bite-size strawberry shortcakes and a bourbon-spiked milkshake served with a warm chocolate chip cookie. "Goody" bags were handed out on exit that included discount coupons for haircuts, and pink T-shirts that said "Chef Blythe Beck makes it naughty!"

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