Restaurant Review: Fedora’s Italian Bistro in Dallas

by The Law Reviewers of The Law Reviewers

DALLAS — The Law Reviewers are big Godfather fans -- we've seen all three movies 10 minutes at a time and out of order on the AMC channel over the years, and we want you to know that someday we may ask you for a favor you can't refuse before Michael kisses Sonny at a toll booth.

Fedora Restaurant & Lounge wants you to remember that it’s not just a Godfather-inspired Italian restaurant, it’s also a Lounge. Aw hell, let’s just quote the cheeky website and let the in-your-faceness that is Fedora explain for itself (for best results, use your inner “The Most Interesting Man in The World” voice):

Sorry, but Raymond Chandler would have put his cigarette out on the bread plates of the lawyers having lunch there on a recent weekday (Yes, they were all lawyers. We could tell even without the secret show-me-the-money greeting).

This is not to say we don’t admire Fedora’s gusto and drive, and we hope it succeeds given its recent landlord-lockout issues. Gina Campisi is a part owner of Fedora. The Campisi family has been slinging dough around these parts since long before Jack Ruby conspired to fake the moon landing at the original Mockingbird Lane location. Fedora is not a typical Campisi’s, to be sure, but we’re afraid its lofty ambitions may be its downfall.

The restaurant itself is as visually stunning as the hyperbole on its website – all black and white and 90 degree angles – but it’s the other things that need a little work. Hmm, what were those things again? Uhhh, oh, the food and service!

Pastas and pizzas are the showcases on the lunch menu, which also included a few sandwich, salad, and grill choices. We opted for the pappardelle pasta with spicy sausage ($11). The wide noodles tasted house-made and were perfectly cooked, but the sausage bits were few and far between and not spicy. The ear-shaped orecchiette pasta ($12) was delicious and well-portioned and did not taste like ear at all. The roasted chicken pizza ($9) was lukewarm when it came out, so what probably would have been a decent pizza ended up being a chewy disappointment, although the roasted chicken and goat cheese toppings were a tasty combination.

The Caesar salad that may be added to an entrée for an extra $2 was excellent -- creamy and large for the price. Another winner was the complimentary bread. Based on the pizza dough, it had a salty, crunchy crust (but was not re-filled fast enough).

Service was s.l.o.w. and failed our test of can-you-do-a-reasonably-quick-weekday-lunch. The whole ordeal neared two hours and we escaped without dessert. Our server was well-meaning, but she would also disappear for hours at a time.

So, on our famous over-acting, scene-chewing five gavel scale, where one gavel is Al Pacino screaming at his wife in Heat and five gavels is Al Pacino screaming at everyone in Scent of a Woman, we give Fedora two and a half gavels, or Al Pacino screaming at Keanu Reeves in The Devil’s Advocate (a lawyer movie!). Hey, only one Godfather reference – we’re surprised too!

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