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First Taste at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek With New Chef Bruno Davaillon

Posted on November 2nd, 2009 11:24pm by Jennifer Chininis
Filed under Celebrity Chefs, Restaurant News
Seared Day Boat scallop with cauliflower three ways.
Seared Day Boat scallop with cauliflower three ways.

Technically the fanfare will not begin until later this week, but we just couldn’t wait. We knew chef Bruno Davaillon was headed to the   kitchen at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in early November and, given the silence, we figured he must be here testing new recipes. So we took our chances and headed over to the Mansion for dinner. Oh, yes he was there and so were some of  his new dishes such as seared Day Boat scallop with cauliflower three ways (puree, “salad,” and lightly roasted); king crab and butternut squash bisque with glazed chestnuts and crispy spring roll; bison tenderloin “au poivre” with autumn vegetables; roasted veal tournedos with crispy sweetbread, fig chutney, and chanterelle mushroom; Maine lobster salad with avocado, tomato confit, and caviar cream; and Mansion shrimp cocktail with horseradish panna cotta and spicy tomato syrup. We can only speak for the first two; actually, chef Davaillon was serving only the bisque tonight, but when we confessed we had come in for a advance taste, he offered the scallops as well.Jump for more of Davaillon’s creations.

King crab and butternut squash bisque with glazed chestnuts.
King crab and butternut squash bisque with glazed chestnuts.

The bisque was warm, hearty, and a just the right amount of decadent. The bowls were presented to us with soft cubes of butternut squash, glazed chestnuts, and three fat discs of king crab; the bisque was ceremoniously poured in, served with a crispy spring roll loaded with more crab and squash, this time julienned. The spring roll was a bit greasy and unnecessary, really, because the bisque held its own. Our second course, the Mansion salad with Maytag blue and spiced pecans, was big enough to split, as was the artichoke risotto, spruced up with hunks of ham and delicate fried artichoke crisps. (While the risotto is not one of Davaillon’s new dishes, we do hope he keeps it, because it is divine.)

Passion fruit and mango blend with coconut foam.
Passion fruit and mango blend with coconut foam.

The second of the new dishes, scallops with cauliflower three ways–puree, teeny bits of raw cauliflower “salad,” and a slight roast–was a new twist on an old favorite. Scallops, with a crisp crust from the sear, were enormous–a generous portion of three. But the star on this plate was the cauliflower puree, so rich with cream. If I could, I would have rolled around in it. I still might.

Just when we thought we’d had enough, the chef sent us two drinkable desserts (in lieu of coming out and saying hello, perhaps?): a passion fruit and mango blend with coconut foam. It was light and tropical–just enough to send us to the Caribbean for a spell. And it was just the sweet ending we didn’t even know we needed.

Welcome to Dallas, chef Davaillon. We look forward to trying more of your new dishes. Stay tuned, we’ll have an interview with the new Mansion chef soon.

9 comments

  1. Was this experience available to anyone who was interested in Davaillon’s new menu items, or only to those who identified themselves as magazine writers?

    @ 7:23 am on November 3, 2009

  2. you might want to lose the flash on the camera for aesthetic and other reasons

    @ 8:10 am on November 3, 2009

  3. If the presentation of the dishes are any indication of what to expect from the food, then I’ll pass. Everything looks, ‘plopped’ on…I can tell that the bisque is too thick just by looking at it.

    @ 11:03 am on November 3, 2009

  4. Menu was available to all customers.

    @ 11:07 am on November 3, 2009

  5. Hey Jane, although I have been known to choose a restraunt by counting the cars in the parking lot, I’ve never been able to rate a bisque by looking at a picture snapped for a blog; can you tell me what’s in the book by simply looking at the cover?

    @ 7:13 pm on November 3, 2009

  6. @jane – that was so unnecessary and wrong. Like the Mansion or not, this guy can cook. You don’t earn a Michelin star or get hired at the Mansion if you don’t know how to cook well. Pu-lease.

    @ 8:14 pm on November 3, 2009

  7. Study the photo, Gastronome. Look at the meniscus, the irregularity around the edges, the way the bisque thickly coats parts of the bowl it touched. Unless the photo was doctored, that was a very thick bisque. Maybe thick is your style, but don’t beat up Jane for reacting to what’s in the picture.

    @ 11:27 am on November 4, 2009

  8. I agree with Jane and Bisquik, The bisque is to thick. Bruno May have been the chef at mix, But we must all realize, that Mix is still Alan Ducasse’s restuarant. put it in a metaphor, bruno was a chess piece on Ducasse’s chess board. And i’m pretty sure Bruno Learned a lot from Ducasse, but those 3 pictures look like nuthing to be excited about.

    @ 9:56 pm on November 4, 2009

  9. OK ladies. I had the bisque last night and let me assure you, it was perfect in every way. It was so.damn.good. You’re silly to judge anything from an amatuer photo and sillier still to judge food from a photo.

    @ 3:42 pm on November 11, 2009