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Have You Been to Smoke in Oak Cliff?

Yow. Zah. Talked about mixed reviews. Almost everywhere I go I hear folks gabbing about Smoke. Here are some excerpts from reader e-mails: “The best Key lime pie!” “Oh my god that big fat rib is incredible!” “Worst meal I ever ate!” “What is up with the service?” “The BBQ is dreadful!” Somebody tell me what is going on over there.

Restaurant Review: Park Restaurant on Henderson Avenue in Dallas

Marc’s famous mussels by Kevin Hunter Marple.

Are you crazy about chef Marc Cassel’s mussels? Do you love Spam on your pizza? Is bocce a cheese, a font, or a game? Extra, extra, read all about it.

Mini-Review: Chicken House in Dallas

Today, with a renewed attitude to drive across town to discover food, I hit Chicken House in East Dallas to buy a big butt bucket load of fried chicken for my hard-working cube mates.  Chicken House is the semi-new name for the joint formerly known as Brothers Fried Chicken.

The speaker in the drive-through is in desperate need of repair. The crackling high-pitched screech cooked my cochlea and fried my synapses. Somehow I managed to order a 10-piece family pack, sides of okra and cole slaw, and a fried pie. As I waited by the window, I asked the nice lady, Naomi, if the recipe was the same as Brothers. She said it was—I didn’t actually hear her, but luckily I’m a great reader of lips.

Anywhoo, imagine my co-workers surprise when I walked in with a free lunch! Well, the whole deal was only $19.45 and it made even the skinny people happy. Vegetarians, not so much.

Here is my take: The chicken pieces were huge and the crust was crunchy and crispy. (No extra salt was needed. I drizzled jalapeno juice on mine.) Cole slaw was not great—too much mayo. Fries reminded me of my ex-husband—they were soft and wimpy. Fried okra were State Fair quality—nothing but crispy little balls of probably frozen okra. But Naomi was nice and the chicken was worth the drive. Co-workers, let me hear from you. (909 Fitzhugh @ Gaston. 214-370-0800)

Free Food and Reviews, Another Thought

Here is another event that happens from time-to-time around these hallowed halls—a company will deliver cupcakes, food, or products and get a negative mention on SideDish. Then they get all pissy. The same thing has happened with media dinners. I remember sending a writer to a media dinner at We Oui, or however you spell it. Months later when I published a negative review, owner Phil Romano called me and screamed, “But you told me you loved the place when you were at the media dinner.” I wasn’t at the media dinner but because someone from D was there and was polite or actually did like the meal that evening, Mr. Romano thought he’d “bought” a good review. (Romano called my boss and tried to have me fired.)

The same goes for restaurants that call and request a restaurant review or “listing.” I ask them to send a copy of the menu and tell them they will be considered for a review but there are never any guarantees. If I do decide to write about it and the review isn’t glowing, I usually get a phone call, e-mail, or letter complaining that I was unfair. Okay, carry on, just a thought.

Disher Reports on Zorba’s in Plano

I didn’t realize that Zorba’s had changed ownership. A former Zorba’s-lovin’ Disher sends this report:

Zorbas changed ownership and it is now a disaster! After many great meals
there I went for lunch last week. After waiting for 20 minutes and no sign
of our waiter I signaled to him across the room by pointing at my watch. He
yelled across the restaurant “I am not the cook”. When the meal came some 5
minutes later, it was the wrong dish. This used to be a good spot. No more!

Dining Critics and Anonymity: Does it Really Matter Anymore?

Sometimes you feel like a duck. Sometimes you don’t.

I find it interesting that two high-profile dining critics are changing their tune about the importance of remaining anonymous. Maybe it’s because they are no longer high-profile dining critics. Former New York Times dining critics Ruth Reichl and Frank Bruni have been giving interviews with quotes such as these:

“Dining companions are not good covert operations agents,” Bruni says. It’s one of the many reasons Bruni no longer feels restaurant critics can remain anonymous.

Is Bruni paving the way for his successor Sam Sifton? Before Sifton took over as the Times critic, he was the cultural news editor and deputy dining editor. His head shot was plastered all over the paper and the web. Sifton was forced into wearing disguises before he wrote his first lead review.

I believe anonymity is important—I have a closet full of clothes, glasses, and wigs to prove it. As a magazine editor, I have interviewed a lot of chefs in Dallas. I have even traveled with a few to do feature stories. As a dining critic, I have managed to slip past them in their restaurants and review them. (Hi Avner! Hi Dean!) That said, even when I am recognized (Hi, Kent!), which is not very often, it doesn’t always guarantee the restaurant will provide a perfect dining experience. Just because there is a dining critic in a restaurant doesn’t make the chef a better chef or the menu a better menu. Service might step up a notch, but it has been my experience that servers overcompensate and make more mistakes when they know they are serving a critic.

Most restaurant critics don’t get busted by personal appearance, they are outed by their behavior. Asking too many questions upfront and ordering too much food are dead giveaways to perceptive servers. A critic also has to be careful what they say at the table. You never know who is sitting next to you or what they will say to the manager, chef, or owner.

Servers, what do you think? Chefs? Fire away. Dishers, take your best shot.

(BTW, love this.)

Downtown Dallas: Where Should We Eat Lunch Today?

By now, you’ve probably heard that D World Headquarters® has moved downtown. Specifically, we’re at the corner of St. Paul Street and Ross Avenue, across from the DMA. Yes, it’s a nice location. (Whaddup, Stephan Pyles!) You also know that we’re a hungry crew. We like to eat. A lot. Earlier this week, I asked our Facebook fans for downtown dining/drinking recommendations. (What’s that? You’re not one of our Facebook friends yet? We’d love to have you join. [Subtle hint] ) Our FB family provided many great dining options, and, for those working downtown, I thought I’d share the wealth after the jump. You might discover a new favorite. SideDishers, we’d love to hear from you too. Give us your fave downtown lunch spot in the comments. Our stomachs will appreciate it.

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Mini-Review: Texas de Brazil Express in Dallas

Bacon-wrapped organic chicken sandwich on ciabatta.

I just dropped into the newish Texas de Brazil Express in Preston Center and picked up a couple of sandwiches. It’s a create-your-own sandwich, salad, or rice bowl concept. I guess you could call it a mini-churrascaria: There are skewers of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, Brazilian sausage, and picanha (sirloin) sizzling over an open flame in the middle of the self-service line.

If you love Texas de Brazil, you’ll love the mini-TdB. It’s certainly a cheaper way to enjoy the familiar meats. It took me forever to make up my mind, but dozens of regulars moved past me and recited their orders like robots.

Jump for my love. (more…)

Mini-Review: Tortas La Hechizera in Dallas

I hit Tortas La Hechizera on Maple for a late lunch (2:30 p.m.) and the place was packed. There was not an empty chair in the house so I ordered my torta poblano to go. (Note to self: wait for an open table.) By the time I got to my house, the bread was so soggy I had to eat the torta with a fork-a. As you can see from the picture, it’s not a pretty concoction but even cold and sodden this torta always makes me happy.

The two huge slices of Mexican bread are filled with fistfuls of sliced avocados, chopped and griddled poblano peppers and white onion, melted white cheese, crema, sliced tomatoes, and lettuce. For a little torta joint, this place offers a zillion options: too many tortas to name (Cubana is probably the most familiar to you), quesadillas (deep-fried), enchiladas mole, and tostadas. They also carry a large selection of bottled Mexican soft drinks and candies. The price of the torta poblano is $6.69 but one is enough for two people. Unless one of those people is me. I am looking down at my stomach right now and it looks like I am, once again, pregnant with a food baby.

Guessing Games: Chicken Fried Steak From Ranchman’s Café in Ponder Texas

Okay, I win this round. Maybe if I’d given you guys a few more clues (or a freakin’ map), you might have guessed Ranchman’s Café as the restaurant that serves the chicken fried steak pictured below. (Anywhoo, congrats to Shelbyg75 for being commenter #67.)

Ranchman’s Café has been a figure on what remains of the Texas Blackland Prairie around Ponder (east of Denton) since 1948. (Or 14 years after Bonnie and Clyde attempted to rob the Ponder State Bank just down the street.) The spirit of long-time owner and founder Grace “Pete” Jackson lives on under the ownership of Dave Ross who worked as a cook for Pete in the 70s while he attended UNT.

I discovered Ranchman’s in 1970 when I was a freshman at UNT (them NTSU). My friends and I used to rent horses in Denton, ride across the land, and tie our fillies to the railing at the old post office across the street from Ranchman’s. We feasted on hand-cut steaks that Pete chicken-fried in a pan and homemade pie and napped under the big pecan tree down the road.

Fast forward to last Sunday when my mom, her friend Ann, and I drove up for a nostalgic dinner. The place looks the same: the linoleum on the original tables has been worn down to the wood. Instead of pan-fried T-bones, the kitchen tenderizes round steak, dips it in flour, and milk tosses it in a deep fryer. Almost everything on the side is fried: green tomatoes, squash, and most of the vegetables-of-the-day. Ranchman’s Café make Blythe Beck’s naughty food look like spa cuisine. Enough reading, watch the video for a tour of the restaurant and a chicken fried steak cooking demonstration. Reservations: 940-479-2221 (pre-order baked potatoes.)

Nancy’s Eat and Tweet: Join Me For Dinner

I’m headed out to do a restaurant review. I’m going to Twitter while I work. Join me DSideDish.

Former Dallas Restaurant Critics: Mary Brown Malouf

Mary Brown Malouf at my high school graduation.

I’ve been at my post here at D Magazine for 13 years. Sometime I wonder how many calories I have eaten; other times I wonder how many of those calories were actually worth ingesting. Restaurant reviewers eat more low-to-medium quality food than spectacular meals.

Anywhoo, in the post below, I mentioned Michael Hiller. He used to be a critic at the DMN. Over the years, I’ve seen lots of “critics” come and go. Anyone remember Betty Cook? Suzanne Hough (R.I.P)? Dave Faries? (Oh, he’s still here.) Or Mary Brown Malouf?

Mary was a real biyatch when she wrote dining reviews for the Dallas Observer. When she came to work at D in the late 90s, we became good friends. But Mary ditched D and Dallas and she’s now the Food and Travel editor at Salt Lake City Magazine. I just looked on their site and found a classic Mary Brown Malouf rant.  Gosh, I’m all nostalgic. Call me, Bill.

How about you? Who do you miss? Who do you love? Who do you hate?

Mini-Review: Carolina’s Mexican Cuisine in Dallas

I was in North Dallas this weekend and popped into Carolina’s Mexican Cuisine for a quick lunch. It’s a huge space with a ginormous patio. It was 12:45 p.m. and there were only three other tables, a reality that would scare the elastic-waist pantalones off of me if I was trying to open four restaurants within six months of each other.

Brisket tacos.

Owner Carolina Galvan-Rodriguez is the former wife of MCrowd (Mi Cocina, Taco Diner) visionary Mico Rodriquez. She has set out on her own with big plans—earlier this year she announced she would be unveil two locations of Carolina’s (Rosemeade opened on June 7th; Central and Parker in Plano on June 26th) and two Taco Mundo retaurants (Preston Royal and Centreport in Fort Worth). Preston Royal was originally slated to open on July 24, while August 4th was the date for Centreport. According to Rodriquez’s publicist, Sharon Adams, both Taco Mundo locations have been delayed “due to construction.”

The food we tried at the Rosemeade location was delightful. A huge scoop of guacamole, warm fried chips, and salsa came immediately along with a nice stiff glass of freshly brewed tea with lime. We sampled brisket tacos—stringy in a good way soft meat laced with hot peppers and mild queso fresco was tucked into four fresh four-inch corn tortillas. Two pork tamales were covered in a chili gravy sauce and were served with fluffy Spanish rice, clean (not lard-ridden) refried beans, pico de gallo. Tex-Mex options offer mix and match enchiladas and sauces: Choose chicken, beef, or cheese enchiladas and cover with chili con carne, chili con queso, ranchera, spicy queso, sour cream sauce, or tomatillo.

We didn’t try one, but the margaritas are priced at $6.95. Anyone? Jump for more photos.

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Mini-Review: Hoppin’ John at Peggy Sue Barbecue in Dallas

The first time I had a bowl of Hoppin’ John was a zillion years ago in South Carolina. Now I get my fix at Peggy Sue Barbecue. Say what you want about the ribs (love ‘em), brisket, and onion rings, but this dish, made with black-eyed peas, medium grained rice, bacon, diced onion and garlic, gringo peppers, and juicy smoke-flavored pulled pork and caramelized red onion is smashing. Simply smashing.

Samar by Stephan Pyles in Dallas: VIP Grand Opening Party

Samar’s creators paid huge attention to design. The following video is a tour of the restaurant with Stephan Pyles. (Pardon the sound; the place was packed.)

We sent Andrew Chalk to cover the semi-soft opening of Samar by Stephan Pyles. Here is his report. You want chandeliers? Stephan Pyles bought some chandeliers for Samar. Go Andrew:

Samar by Stephan Pyles held its invite-only preview party on Saturday and, judging by the turnout, reservations to this new eatery are going to be hard to get. (The official opening day is still TBD but planned for “early October.”)

Saturday, close to 1,000 of Stephan’s closest friends piled into the restaurant, the patio, and a specially rented spillover area. Despite the crowd, the staff coped with the rush like a well-oiled machine. Even the periodic guest-dropping-a-glass-in-a-crowded-bar problem was immediately met with a staffer who cordoned off the area while another cleaned it clean up. The kitchen and wait staff dispatched appetizers with that frictionless regularity which makes you wonder if the servers aren’t on roller skates.

The centerpiece of any restaurant is the food. Pyles installed Vijay Sadhu, formerly of Bukhara Grille and Clay Pit, as head chef because he wanted Indian cuisine to be one of the inspirations at Samar.The other influences on the menu come from Spain and the area loosely defined as the Eastern Mediterranean (mainly Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey). Here is chef Sadhu describing some of the appetizers.

Chef Sadhu showed the crowd his ambitious stuff—all of the food was prepared perfectly. As he showed at his earlier positions, Vijay Sadhu is an expert and combining flavors and bringing them out in his dishes. Here is a short list of what was served: Red Lentiles Kofte (Turkish), Kebbeh with Golden beets tzatziki sauce, Chicken kebab stuffed with spiced gound lamb served with Spice tomato jam and crispy okra, Saffron Paneer tikka with spiced vermicelli and cumin scented asparagus, Chocolate Samosa with rose jam, and Papadam cones stuffed with Mung sprouts

Guests were offered either a specially created martini that apparently involved pomegranate juice (and had a fruity approachability that made it deceptively easy to imbibe) or one of a number of respectable wines.This food, by the way, is wine-friendly.

Outside, the patio was put to good use. Belly dancers entertained the crowd that, coincidentally, became progressively less and less reserved.

Hookah pipes were available to complete one’s sense transportation from the corner of Ross and Olive to some exotic country.

Restaurant Review: Bliss Raw Café and Elixir Bar in Dallas

Strawberry cream pie. (photo by Kevin Hunter Marple)

Teresa Gubbins has something to say about everything. Today she has something to say about Bliss Raw Café and Elixir Bar in Dallas. I have not been to Bliss, well the restaurant anyway, but I hear that the regulars are, well, quite regular.

Restaurant Review: Cadot Restaurant in Dallas

Trout topped with langoustine. See that delicate pink turnip on the green beans? Make sure you try them.

Other than the dessert soufflés, there is a lot to like about Cadot. Long-time Dallas chefs Gaspar Stantic and Jean-Marie Cadot are turning out some nice French-influenced dishes. Click here to read my full review of Cadot.

(photo by Kevin Hunter Marple)

Does Dallas Need Another $16 Burger?

Smoke's $16 burger

Full disclosure: I’m a Cliffdweller and love/hate that the 75225 crowd have discovered how cool life south of the Trinity can be. (Overheard one night at Bolsa: “Oh my gawd! Look at that taco hut across the street, y’all. Have you ever seen so many in your life?” So many what? You figure it out.) That said, I was stoked that the Bolsa owners and chef/co-owner Tim Byres took over Cliff Cafe — a decent hotel restaurant at The Belmont — and reimagined it as a frou frou smokehouse. So, far I’ve been loving the meats (sweet paprika and fennel seed sausage = savory goodness) and breakfast (my new favorite home for biscuits and gravy) at Smoke. But the EB&D Loaded Up and Truckin’ burger is almost as ridiculous as its name: Burgundy beef (so far, so good) topped with bacon, a farm egg fritter, sharp cheddar, onion, tomato, and lettuce all on a griddled honey bun. Two bites into it, my hands were dripping with meat juices and egg yolk, my jaw hurt, and I admitted defeat. It was simply too much of everything. Dissecting the burger, I appreciated the well seasoned beef patty cooked a perfect medium as well as the lightly fried poached egg. But bacon on a burger needs to be crisp. This was thick cut and, alas, flabby. For $16, it was an orgy of competing tastes and textures my mouth couldn’t appreciate. Nor do I appreciate this burger trend of piling everything between two buns, charging almost $20 for it, and declaring it “gourmet.” No. Gourmet is a burger where I can actually taste and savor the beef. So far, I really like Smoke. But this burger bugged me. Am I alone on this issue, SideDishers?

SideDish Supper Club: The Wine Recap

Andrew Chalk worked hard last night. He drank every wine. Below is his insightful look at Alfonso Cevola’s selections for the evening.

You will have read elsewhere here about the fabulous five-course meal the SideDish Supper Club enjoyed at Nonna. As luck would have it, they also served some wine! In fact, you could choose to drink wine at two quality levels for the duration of the meal. The lower level was called Borghese. I think that must be Italian for trailer park. Italian is such a beautiful language that they had no qualms allowing the opera Aida to be written by a guy named Joe Green. The upper level was termed Alto-Borghese, which I think means Fru-Fru in Italian. I went with the Borghese level, reflecting my social status, and my date went with the Alto-Borghese, thereby allowing us to swap and try all the wines. (more…)

Hot Dogs in Dallas: Costco in Plano

This will be my last hot dog report for a while—my stomach is still recovering from Sunday. After I visited Double Dip Frozen Custard in Frisco, I headed over to Costco to try their dog. I thought Costco sold Sabrett or Hebrew National in their concession stand, but when I got there I was not too surprised to find Kirkland products on the menu. (Hebrew National dogs are available in the refrigerated meats section.) Short story: the all-beef Kirkland dogs are cooked in a shallow pan of hot water and any flavor the “meat” might had ever had has been boiled away. They present a nice beef-to-steamed-bun ratio—almost an inch of  the wiener hang from each end. They are cheap: two dogs and refillable drinks were $3.25! And they offer freshly diced onions, but I’ll eat before I go again. Oh wait, I did that last time. Maybe that is why I’ve been sipping Sprite and eating Wheat Thins for two days. Moving on.

Restaurant Reviews: When is it “Legal” to Review a New Restaurant?

“Talking to myself and feeling old/Sometimes I’d like to quit/Nothing ever seems to fit/Hangin’ around, nothing to do but frown/Rainy days and Mondays always get me down”—The Carpenters

I am feeling so Karen Carpenter today. Not skinny, just beat down. It all started on Saturday when I ended up in lengthy conversation with a veteran Dallas restaurateur on the “rules” surrounding a restaurant review. He/She shall remain nameless.

Anywhoo, He/She had a (loud) question for me: “Hey, since when did it become okay for a restaurant critic to review a restaurant during the first week of operation?” I had no idea what He/She was talking about so I asked, “What do you mean.” He/She raged on incredulously: “Well Leslie Brenner went to Park the first week it opened and based a lot of her review on what happened during the first week.”

“Whoa, hold on,” I said. “I have not read Brenner’s review because I have not written mine. Until I do, I’m not comfortable talking about it.”

“Well, then let’s make this a hypothetical case,” He/She said. “When do you consider it fair to go into a new restaurant and judge it?” My first reaction was to say as long as a restaurant charges a full price, they are fair game. However, I knew that I was dealing with a seasoned restaurateur who was ready to shoot down that standard line so I said boldly, “Whenever the restaurant charges a customer a full price, they are fair game.” (Jump here.) (more…)

Hot Dogs in Dallas: Double Dip Frozen Custard in Frisco

Bad picture of a bad Spicy Dog.

On September 3rd, I asked you guys an innocent question: What’s for lunch? I was jonsing for a hot dog. You all chimed in with suggestions and I headed out to try a few. First stop was Dog Stop. Then came Eddie’s Deli, Zinsky’s Delicatessen, and Wild About Harry’s. I ate two dogs in each place and even after eight, I was still happy to look for more.

Yesterday I drove to Main Street in old Frisco to try the dogs at Double Dip Frozen Custard. The sign our front claims: “Double Dip Famous Dogs. Large, Lean All-Beef Hot Dogs on a Wheat Bun!” The list of selections is rated by the number of napkins it takes to eat each dog. You’ll need two for the Spicy Dog with green chili relish and honey dill mustard. It takes at least three to handle the Chili Dog made with “Texas-style chili.” Four napkins will get you through their Super Dog “piled high with green chili relish, Texas-style chili, and chopped onions.”

What they desperately need on the menu are barf bags. (more…)

Hot Dogs in Dallas: Wild About Harry’s

Another thrilling episode of He Said/She Said with Evan Grant and Nancy Nichols. Today we will discuss Wild About Harry’s, the popular Parkie hot dog shop on Knox.

My kind of dog, Chicago Dog.

She Said: Wild About Harry’s is insanely busy mainly because owner Harry Coley is always at the front door and greeting customers by name. That makes kids feel special and parents feel self-important and happy. Who, other than me and Leslie Brenner, doesn’t like to be recognized? I sashayed to and fro in front of the clueless Mr. Coley today just like all of the other middle aged customers looking for a good Chicago dog and some pistachio custard. I felt a little slighted by the fact that I didn’t get a greeting from Harry, an (in)action that caused a pang of guilt in my sagging gut: “Oh my god, I forgot to have children!”

Here’s the deal: I like my dogs cooked on a grill or griddle. At Harry’s, they are steamed. The dogs are Vienna Beef and come with the same poppy seed bun that Vienna supplies to all of their customers. Therefore, the dog-to-dough ratio is perfect. The Chicago dog at WAH is good but the cold chopped tomatoes, a long pickle slice, neon relish, and sport peppers bring the overall temperature of the total package down too fast. I do not like the contrast of cold tomatoes and a momentarily hot hot dog. The Chicago dog alone is $4.49; the value menu ($6.79) is a real deal—for an extra $2.30, I got a refillable drink and a side of cole slaw. Evan went with the regular dog and although I didn’t taste it, the dog was the same as mine and it was covered with neon relish and mustard. I frequent Wild About Harry’s because it is the closest dog to my office. And yes, I’ve eaten many an Angry Dog dog and will go again next week so I can wrap up this series. Unless I’m missing another obvious contender. Evan?

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Hot Dogs in Dallas: Zinsky’s Delicatessen

Makeshift Maxwell Street Polish at Zinsky's.

We present another She said/he said hot dog review, starring Nancy Nichols and Evan Grant.

SHE SAID: I asked InsideCorner’s Evan Grant to go with me to taste hot dogs because he likes hot dogs as much as I do. And Evan and I usually agree on food. However, what we don’t agree on is what constitutes a good hot dog joint. When I started my quest for a hot dog, I set out to find little independent shops that sold mostly only hot dogs. Then I made the mistake of asking Evan to join me in my search. He’s a deli-lover and he likes restaurants with his hot dogs. He wants tables and side dishes and waitresses.

After we hit Eddie’s Deli, Evan insisted that we go to Zisky’s Delicatessen in Preston Royal.  “It’s not a hot dog place,” I argued. “It’s a restaurant that serves a bunch of stuff and offers hot dogs.” Evan was his usual stubborn self. “Nancy, if you want to taste the best hot dog you have to include hot dogs in restaurants,” he sneered. “Besides I’ve been to Zinsky’s and their dogs are great.”

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Hot Dogs in Dallas: Eddie’s Deli

Okay folks, I am filing this dining experience under “Weirdest of All Times.” InsideCorner’s Evan Grant and I set out the other day to check out Eddie’s Deli located on the southeast corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams. As you can see, it’s not much to look at from the outside, or the inside for that matter. As we walked toward the place, we detected the strong smell of mothballs. When Evan opened the door, we were flooded with fumes. As we stood looking over the menu, our eyes started to water and my throat tightened up.

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