(clockwise from top) Chef Graham Dodds, oxtail ragout with crispy gnocchi, and a Scotch egg. (Photography by Kevin Marple)

This month Todd Johnson checks in with Graham Dodds, the newish executive chef at Central 214. His cooking is a far cry from his predecessor Blythe Beck. Have you tried the newish Central 214?

With his shaggy beard and dark painter’s cap, Graham Dodds looks out of place in Central 214, the restaurant he now helms at Hotel Palomar. It feels like a typical hotel restaurant—contrived modern decor, nondescript white leather banquettes, amber walls—so focus-grouped that it lacks any personality. And it’s not just the new chef’s appearance. Dodds’ culinary history is far too personal for such an impersonal space.

For the past three years, Dodds was the executive chef at Bolsa, the award-winning spot in the Bishop Arts District. He was in on the project from its inception, and his farm-to-fork approach—championing local and seasonal ingredients—was fresh at the time, not the marketing gimmick it has become. Dodds’ creations were simple, his flavors pure. Nothing was over-sauced or overwrought. Bolsa was an instant hit, and it established North Oak Cliff as a dining destination. D Magazine named it the 2009 restaurant of the year.

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Dallas can’t claim many celebrities as its own. With few exceptions (Hi, Don Henley!), if they make it big, they leave us. That’s why Troy Aikman can’t get through a meal at the Highland Park Village Mi Cocina without a guy coming up to his table to shake his hand. We’re starved for celebrities. Which also explains why we make so much fuss over our famous chefs. Louboutin-heeled ladies fawn like groupies when in the presence of Kent Rathbun, Dean Fearing, or Stephan Pyles.

Television has elevated at least four of our chefs to national fame. Bravo’s Top Chef has featured three from North Texas: Tre Wilcox (then of Abacus), Tiffany Derry (then of Go Fish Ocean Club), and Casey Thompson (then of Shinsei). Kooky restaurateur and caterer Lisa Garza (then of Suze) mesmerized and polarized fans when she competed on The Next Food Network Star. These days, it’s easier to get in touch with Brad Pitt than Lisa Garza.

None of the aforementioned chefs won the big prize. All four returned to the Dallas area and, eventually, starred in new restaurants backed by investors. After her appearance on Top Chef, Thompson left her post at Shinsei and co-founded Brownstone in Fort Worth. After losing in the finals, Garza operated an upscale catering company for several years and has opened Sissy’s Southern Kitchen & Bar on Henderson Avenue. After Tre Wilcox packed up his knives, he juggled consulting and private gigs before he landed center stage at Marquee Grill in Highland Park Village. And Tiffany Derry, who couldn’t sell a piece of halibut at the now-defunct Go Fish while she competed on Top Chef, is now ruling the kitchen at Private Social.

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Sweet Face: Chef Mansour Gorji.

I’ll be quick and to the point: Canary By Gorji is the most underrated restaurant in Dallas. Every time I eat there I am seduced by the creative cooking and I fall in love with Chef Mansour Gorji.

I took my family to Canary By Gorji  for dinner last night and we had a comfortable, laid-back dining experience. (I don’t have pictures because I didn’t use my cell phone.) The music, service, food, and atmosphere all work together to produce a calm atmosphere. We left happy and I didn’t feel like I’d just worked a review.

If you’ve eaten at this small, mostly Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, you have met Gorji. When he isn’t at a market buying fresh ingredients, he is in his kitchen creating unique dishes or visiting with customers. He was the first chef to champion the pomegranate, which he still uses as a garnish on steaks and in sauces. Last night, I devoured a celery root (trending!) and carrot salad that was so fresh it tasted like it was just plucked from the garden. The filleted trout served with a just a touch of white wine and lemon sauce is topped with tart barberries and capers. His food is so clean; so delicious. My mother claimed the pork chop as “the best she’s ever eaten.”

Gorji is a hard working chef. Not only does he cook every night, he supports local charities and produces a line of products which are sold online and in local stores. I’ve never seen him without a smile and a good-natured laugh. Go visit him. He will dazzle your taste buds and your heart.

Pastrami sandwich at Deli-News. Photography by Kevin Marple.

As I opened the menu at Deli-News, the self-proclaimed “New York-style restaurant,” I casually asked my Brooklyn-born-and-raised Jewish friend what qualifies a delicatessen as New York style. Two hours later, I stumbled out of what could have been a long, neurotic Woody Allen movie. “It’s a Russian-Jewish thing,” he snapped. “You see this bagel. You see how this bagel shines. Now that’s a bagel.” I ate the bagel. “Now, you see this pastrami,” he snipped. “This is real pastrami. It’s got the right amount of fat and it’s steamed. It’s not too thick. It’s not too thin.”

He goes on.

Double loaded burger and sweet potato fries at Stackhouse. Photography by Kevin Marple.

Here is what we think. Let us know your thoughts.

Stackhouse Randy Kienast is a successful home builder. One of his best friends is Ben Spies, a world-class MotoGP rider. You’d think the twosome would be happy to spend their spare time knocking back a few beers and talking about guy stuff like crashing a motorcycle at 190 mph (which Spies has done) or installing a new shower pan. But that would be too easy. So Kienast found a rickety one-story house built in 1925, and together they turned it into Stackhouse, a gourmet-ish burger bar on Gaston, near Baylor Hospital. Thankfully they had the sense to hire someone who knows something about cooking meat, James Rose, the former chef at Bob’s Steak & Chop House on Lemmon Avenue.

Oh, there is so much more…

Praram with shrimp

Thai-rrific was a North Dallas favorite until it moved to Oak Lawn last year. And since I live around there, I am sure glad it did.

Despite the Cedar Springs address, the restaurant fronts Throckmorton Street. Big windows provide a view of the well-lit dining room and its diners: concrete floor, tables topped with white paper over white clothes and black banquettes, two-tops and four-tops of boys from the hood drinking bottles of wine they brought in themselves.

We were seated at a half banquette/half table set up in a cozy corner and proceeded to fill our bellies.

We started with the pik gai yut, or stuffed wings. Our waitress said it was the house specialty. Essentially it was two large chicken sausages shaped like wings. What I mean by that is that ground chicken was mixed with cilantro, onions, rice, and lemongrass and kind of formed into wing shapes before being roasted and sliced and presented in a brown sauce. Lip-smacking good.

Pik gai yut with cilantro, onions, and lemongrass [left

Six fat shrimp sat atop our praram, lightly sauteed red and white cabbage and broccoli in a curry-peanut sauce. Of our three entrees, this was the one we ate the most of. There were no leftovers to take home.

There was also no coconut curry to choose from, so we went with a yellow curry dish called gang karee. Big hunks of white potato, thin-sliced carrots, and slivers of chicken swam in a flavorful yellow curry. Though we ordered all three entrees “medium heat,” this one seemed to have more heat than the others – enough to create a temporary ring of fire around my mouth.

Service was friendly and efficient, though our waitress kept stepping on my dining partner’s feet. Apparently they both wear giant shoes.

Various brightly colored cakes fill a dessert case by the door. And one many-layered cake, each layer a different color for a rainbow nod to the neighborhood, sat under a glass dome. We skipped the sweets, but that chocolate frosting sure did look good.

4000 Cedar Springs Road
Dallas, TX 75219
972-241-2412
Sun-Thu, 11 am-10 pm
Fri & Sat, 11 am-4 am

Grilled duck with beets. Photography by Kevin Marple.

In late December I posted the “Top Twelve Bites I Put in my Mouth in 2011.” Well, I screwed up. It should have been 13 because the gnocchi, crunchy barley, and earthy mushrooms I devoured at Nana was the inspiration for the post. My apologies and compliments to the chef, Anthony Bombaci. You sir, are truly one of the finest chefs in Dallas. Here is my latest review of Nana.

I’ve spent the better part of the past 12 months eating pizza, gourmet burgers, and tacos. So it was quite glorious to sit in a glamorous dining room among a rich and well-coifed crowd, with the bright lights of the Dallas skyline twinkling in the distance. Women were dressed in fancy chiffon gowns and beaded black dresses. Men removed their Stetsons and handed them to the hostess. It wasn’t a trip back in time; it just happened to be the same night as the Cattle Baron’s Ball. For one Cinderella-style evening, our threesome basked in their finery. We were also thrilled with the edgy fine-dining experience presented by Anthony Bombaci, one of Dallas’ more underpromoted chefs.

Oh, there’s more.

It's not a beautiful day in this neighborhood.

I did not go to The Magic Time Machine for haute cuisine. When I packed up a good portion of my family, including three kids, and headed to the popular restaurant known for servers dressed as Peter Pan, Superman, or Jack Sparrow, I had no expectations of getting a decent meal even though the prices for entrees run from $13 to $23.99.  I did expect to dine in a safe and clean environment. Or at least a restaurant that was not so filthy it caused my 12-year old niece to turn to me, dirty fork in hand, and say, “Uncle Nancy, I think you should write about how dirty this place is.”

We walked in at 5:43PM on Sunday night. We were greeted by the stench of stale air. It was like walking into an old house without windows: the smell of musky furniture combined with lingering cigarette smoke trapped inside for years. The dark carpet was littered with bits of paper (toilet?) and napkins. Nobody had bothered to vacuum between shifts (days?). I spotted a plastic Gerber baby food container tucked behind a round light to the right side of the front door. The contents were dried and cracked. As I watched my 3-year old nephew run down the short hallway, I noticed a lamp cord connected to an extension cord lying perilously on the rug about a foot from the wall.

Do a shot of Pepto Bismol and jump hard.

Restroom: 6:00PM on Sunday night.

We were seated in the Library Room. At first I thought the dust on the books had been sprayed on for effect. Not so, it was real. Many of the books once glued to the wall were ripped off and  the unpainted wall was exposed. The wallpaper on one wall was worn through to the dry wall and you could run a knife down the outside and peel off a layer of crud. At 6:00PM on a Sunday night, the trash cans in both bathrooms were overflowing with used paper towels and the salad bar, which is displayed across the top of an old car, was surrounded by dropped ingredients.

Old baby food container tucked behind the light by the front door.

Servers dressed in tacky costumes were whirling around with huge trays of food and bubbling red, green, and yellow drinks. I never saw anyone replenish the anemic bowls at the salad bar or anyone attempt to wipe up the dressing, which dripped down the car door, or the black olives strewn across a plate of beets. The restaurant was maybe half-full.

I’m not going to get into the food except to say whatever you order will taste like nothing, including the tough-to-cut prime rib. This is not my first time to The Magic Time Machine. It has been open since 1973 and was once a hot place for dates (still is) and birthday parties (ditto). The costumes used to better: the ones I noticed looked like they’d been thrown together for a pre-school play: all felt, tights, and glitter.

Here’s the catch $23.99: the kids had fun. They didn’t have to pay the bill or endure the incredibly shoddy visuals. I wonder how long it has been since the someone has shampooed a rug, had the upholstery cleaned, or scrubbed a bathroom. I also wonder the last time a fire marshal or health inspector visited. They could walk in with in their uniforms on and nobody would even notice them! Adults shelling out big bucks in a dirty restaurant with kids’ handprints (not going there!) all over a greasy salad bar would appreciate the gesture. At least force them to put a bottle of Purell next to the ketchup.

Three feet from the front door. The main hallway.

The cruddy, worn-out wallpaper in the library.

Dirty, worn-out forks.

Plump clams with squid-ink-infused spaghetti; chef Francesco Farris, who learned to cook in Sardinia. Photography by Kevin Marple.

In the spring of 2005, I took a press trip to a hotel on the island of Sardinia, about 120 miles west of Italy. Forty-five seconds after the tour bus entered the walled community, I realized the property was a horrid Disneyland version of an Italian resort. It could have been in Frisco. Brand-new buildings were painted to look like ruins, and the hotel workers were dressed in various historic Italian costumes. So I planned an escape.

From my room, I called Lori Farris back in Dallas. Her husband, Efisio Farris, and his brother, Francesco Farris, then co-chefs and co-owners of Arcodoro & Pomodoro, were born and raised in Sardinia. For more than 20 years, the Farris brothers have fought to get Sardinian food the respect it deserves in Dallas. When Lori answered the phone, I asked her to help me get to Orosei, the hometown of the Farris brothers.

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Cajun tilapia with crawfish rice. Photography by Kevin Marple.

Before she left us, Sarah Reiss enjoyed a terrific meal at Brian Olenjack’s restaurant Olenjack’s Grille in Arlington.

Like taking the lid off a simmering pot of pure Texas, Olenjack’s Grille unveils an approach to contemporary chargrilling that embodies all the hat and cattle those other guys seem to have missed. Less salt dependent than its country cousins, the restaurant—helmed by chef-owner Brian Olenjack—relies instead on goat cheese, roasted garlic, and grits as resonant as a Sunday sermon. The menu is a gastronomic ramble, starting with grilled lamb lollipops over sweet-potato polenta and finding its way home to hatch-marked meats that are as mature and reliable as a firm handshake.

Stay with her.

Mark Abuzzahab and Eric Nadel at Sundown at the Granada. Photography by Jason Acton.

Most of you know Eric Nadel as the voice of the Texas Rangers. This year, Eric begins his 34^th year as a Rangers broadcaster in 2012, his 18^th as the lead radio voice. The other day, he picked up his seventh 2011 Texas Sportscaster of the Year Award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. When he’s off the air, he practices his new hobby as a concert promoter. He’s helping a few female singers  get gigs. His current hot property is Daphne Willis. 

Nadel loves to eat. He leans towards vegetarian food most of the time, but he can be seduced by a bitchin’ burger every once in a while. When he travels, he sends reports of restaurants he discovers in American league cities. Last night he was invited to a “friends and family” preview dinner at Sundown at the Granada. He was so excited when he finished he dashed off this quick review and sent it to me at 11:41PM.

Most people were eating burgers and sliders but we found a very wide range of vegetarian options and we tried four of them, all of which were great. We had stuffed avocados (you get three different kinds on a plate), a chopped salad (with kale, sweet potato, avocado and all the normal veggies too), homemade veggie burger, and a succulent quinoa-black bean-sweet potato dish with avocado sauce. Unfortunately I totally forgot to take pictures. If tonight was any indication, you will really like this place. They are buying locally produced ingredients such as grass fed beef and free range chicken whenever possible, avoiding the Sysco type distributors whenever they can. The owner and his wife are vegan primarily for health reasons, but he says he has no trouble giving the public whatever they want to eat. He has come up with a big vegetarian selection with lots of taste, great seasoning. It’s the best tasting vegetarian food I have had in Dallas. And the other people were raving about the burgers. The chef is the guy who has been catering for the bands at the Granada.

Pull up a chair at Sundown's cozy bar. (photography by Jason Acton)

Sundown Tea (photography by Jason Acton)

The Concept: Sundown at Granada is the Granada Theater’s neighboring restaurant and bar with a long list of draft beers and hand-crafted cocktails. Although I’m sure you can grab a bite pre-show, I would be filled with panic watching a line get longer next door while shoveling down the last forkfulls of food and chugging the rest of a beer. This is a perfect spot, however, to discuss your favorite act post-performance and perhaps mingle with band members, who are sure to wander over for a bite.

Who’s There: Thirty-somethings interested in enjoying some quality time together. (Rather than 20-somethings hollering over their third round of Jager bombs.)

When You Enter, Make a Beeline For: A cozy spot. Long gone are the dramatic reds and blacks that made up M Street Bar. Now you’ll find warm, dark woods and earthy accessories that inspire visions of a lakefront cabin or old library (or both, mixed together). Head to the lounge area, which features vintage-looking chairs and rugs. All that’s missing is a fireplace. I would like to recommend the patio with its long tables befitting groups, but the stinky smoke from the chiminea left us smelling like we’d returned from a camping trip.

photography by Jason Acton

What We Drank: A few cocktails, a few beers. (Food starts this Friday.) We did what I think one should do at fancy cocktail joints: ask the waiter to have the bartender to make his favorite drink. Our server didn’t look thrilled when we asked for “something spicy, whatever the bartender likes.” Either way, he brought us a Sundown Tea, a housemade tea concoction spiced with jalapeno, and a Cucumber Cilantro ‘Tini. Both were tasty, if a little on the sweet side. The beer menu boasts 60 options. Our beer snob buddy is calling it a list of “good” options, “not stellar.” Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Wild, Samuel Smith’s seasonal Winter Warmer, and the Left Hand Milk Stout got us excited, but we wouldn’t mind seeing a few one-of-a-kind rotating drafts. Although the kitchen wasn’t open yet, a few samples of soon-to-be-served Mexican Pizza was passed around. It was spicy and delicious.

A peaceful nook for cocktails and conversation. (photography by Jason Acton)

What They’re Wearing: Casual stuff. Jeans will do, but if you head over gussied up, don’t fret. You’ll still fit right in.

When the Crowd Arrives: We settled in on a Friday after work, and the bar had plenty of patrons but also plenty of elbow room.

Bottom Line: Sundown is in its beginning stages. Happy hours aren’t yet in place, and food isn’t being served until this Friday, January 13. All in all, though, we’ll call it a decent bar experience that left us feeling like we were hanging out in a friend’s living room. But we’re excited to go back for food and a post-show nightcap.

Check out our Party Pics gallery from Sundown.

Brisket sandwich at Jack Daniel's Saloon. Photo by Daniel Vaughn.

Slow-cooked brisket (sometimes “advertised” on menus as “smoked”) is trending in Dallas along with sweet potato tots and green chilies on anything. Last week the self-proclaimed BBQ Snob, Daniel Vaughn, policed a few fancy restaurants which claim to serve “smoked brisket.” He covers Texas Spice at the new Omni Convention Center, Jack Daniel’s Saloon, Holy Grail Pub, Torchy’s Taco, and the unpleasantly named Asador in the Renaissance Hotel. As usual, it’s a great read.

Santa Fe-style stacked enchiladas and chef Gabriel DeLeon. Photography by Kevin Marple.

Over the last year, it seems all I’ve written about is regional Mexican food. In that time, Dallas has welcomed Alma, Komali, Mesa, Wild Salsa, BEE, and MesoMaya. The guajillo pepper has replaced the jalapeño, and mole is the new chili con carne. Long live huitlacoche!

Chef Gabriel DeLeon must be a little miffed by the trend. DeLeon comes from a family of chefs. His father worked at his uncle’s restaurant, Esparza’s Restaurante Mexicano in Grapevine, before going on to open La Margarita in Irving. When his father died in 1995, DeLeon took over La Margarita, where he has succeeded for 22 years. In 2009, though, DeLeon decided to open his own concept, a regional Mexican restaurant in Addison. Masaryk Modern Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge was too early to the Mexican revolution. It closed after nine months. “Not having enough Tex-Mex at Masaryk was a real problem,” DeLeon says. He retreated to La Margarita and vowed he would never open another restaurant.

Stay with me for the best comeback story of the year.