Dallas Life Newsletter

Each year the editorial staff at the Dallas Life Newsletter spends a great deal of time reviewing menus and researching the offerings of the participating restaurants to choose a small number (usually not more than five) to visit during Restaurant Week.  The criteria are simple.  The history or reputation of the restaurant is in no way considered.  The chef's menu must stand on its own.  For the past several years, the restaurants that seem to be the most highly anticipated for their participation and therefore "sell out" their reservations the fastest have not even made the short list, although that is not always the case.  The menu must seem to be at least at the same level of creativity and quality as the restaurant's regular menu.  Any restaurant that seems to have lessened the quality or creativity of their offerings in order to present a 3-course meal for $35 is removed from consideration.  We fully believe that Restaurant Week should be a time when area restaurants put their best food forward to attract new customers and benefit the worthy charities of the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home.  Special consideration is given to any restaurant that uses the promotion as an opportunity to showcase new levels of culinary creativity.

This year five restaurants were chosen.  Each restaurant will be visited, and at least one of our senior editors will be present at each visit.  Each of those visits will result in a review, which you can find below when they are posted.  The five restaurants for 2010 are:

• Pyramid at The Fairmont Hotel
• Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza
• Craft Dallas at The W Hotel
• AM/PM at The Mosaic
• Steel

Although four of the five locations happen to be located at hotels or residential complexes and all are in Dallas County, this is stricly coincidental.  Location is not considered in any way during the evaluation process.

Our first stop for Restaurant Week was Pyramid Restaurant and Bar at The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas.  Our regular readers will recognize that we just recently covered Pyramid's new brunch menu last month.  We would not normally cover a restaurant again so soon.  However, Restaurant Week is a special occasion, and chef Natera's menu was by far the first pick of our staff during the selection process.  We were actually a little concerned that the descriptions we received of the dishes set such high expectations in our mind that it would be impossible for them to be realized in the dining room.  Although it did not seem possible, our expectations were actually exceeded.

Although we have been quite intrigued by the combinations offered at Pyramid since the recent arrival of Executive Chef Andre Natera, he managed to catch our eye by creating a selection of offerings for Restaurant Week that mirror the quality and creativity of the seasonal menu while allowing his regular diners to experience new and different flavor profiles.

One of my first rules of dining is to trust your server.  If he or she has a suggestion, I will always take that dish into serious consideration when making my choices.  At the suggestion of our exceptional server, we will discuss two starters.  The first of these is Seared Scallops.  I actually considered it quite humorous to realize we had ordered Seared Scallops as part of the first course of our first Restaurant Week dinner of the year.  While reviewing the menus for Restaurant Week 2008, we had come to the consensus that KRLD must have required a mandatory offering of seared scallops to be included in the promotion, because almost every restaurant was offering them as a choice for the first course.  There were almost as many scallops offered in 2009, although the mandatory dish appeared to be Key Lime Pie, and we made it our goal last year to not order any seared scallops during our visits, so I admittedly enjoyed an internal chuckle when the scallops were overwhelmingly recommended.  These particular scallops came with frisee, arugula, green apples, pancetta, and a golden raisin sherry vinaigrette.  At first we were a little concerned, as either the scallops themselves or the greens had maintained a bit of grittiness, and the pancetta had been overcooked.  However, we very much enjoyed the combination of flavors in this dish.  The tartness in the green apples and the arugula combined with the saltiness from the pancetta perfectly combined to showcase the natural sweetness of the scallops, and the vinaigrette was a perfect accompaniment.  The recommended salad was Watermelon Brulee, a well-known offering from the current seasonal menu.  Watermelon salads have been very popular this summer, but Chef Natera's efforts to grow many of his own herbs in the hotel's rooftop garden and to use fresh local products whenever possible truly elevated this salad to another level.  The subtle torching of the melon added a nice caramelization to accent the cool freshness within, and the addition of fresh mint from the herb garden and feta cheese from the Brazos Valley made for a beautifully refreshing summer salad.

When it came time to choose an entree, two of my personal dining rules came into direct conflict with one another.  In general, I do not order salmon in restaurants except during the short time each year that Copper River Salmon is available.  Salmon has become incredibly common year-round, and I am very picky about my salmon, so I wait for the one time each year when salmon is truly exceptional, as all others tend to pale in comparison.  This tends to make it easier to narrow down entree selections during Restaurant Week, except when our trusted server tells us that if we were going to only try one thing from the Restaurant Week Menu, it should be the Thai Salmon.  I allowed my trust in his judgment to trump my "no salmon" rule and ordered the Thai Salmon.  The current seasonal menu features a Center Cut Salmon with more of a Japanese feel (miso butter & shitake broth).  However, the Thai Salmon from the Restaurant Week Menu was something quite special.  The fish was cut thick enough to maintain its moisture without being cold in the center or dry on the edges.  The outside was perfectly seared, and the interior was the perfect temperature with a buttery texture.  It was seasoned beautifully and served in a green curry coconut broth that exploded with Thai flavors, topped with tomato confit that added just enough natural sweetness and acidity, and served with fresh asparagus and eggplant.  When Andre Natera came by the table, I was forced to admit to him that it was truly the best salmon I had ever tasted.  I truly think I could eat that dish once a week every week for the rest of my life and still look forward to it every time.  Unfortunately, it's not on the regular menu, so I will just have to live with the memory.  We also had the Five Spice Duck, which was served with yam puree, carrots, and orange glaze.  The use of five spice can sometimes be quite troubling in a dish.  Just like the name suggests, this is a combination of five spices.  It's use is very traditional in China.  The five spices used can vary from chef to chef, but the combination is meant to include one from each of the traditional "flavors" of Chinese cuisine: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and pungent.  If not combined properly, the flavor of five spice can become either muddled or overwhelming in one direction or another.  Five spice is a very traditional preparation for duck, although I'm not sure the great chefs of China would expect to see it share a menu with Wild Boar Chops in Chipotle Jus, Achiote Quail, and Sweet Corn Ravioli.  This duck truly earned its place on the menu.  The flavors of the five spice were clear and fresh.  The meat was neither dry nor greasy, as duck can often be, and the sweetness of the carrots and the orange glaze beautifully rounded out the flavor profiles.

The dessert choices offered your choice of either Asian flavors or those of Mexico and the Caribbean with either a Green Tea Creme Brulee or Mango Tart Tatin.  The creme brulee was paired with mint and candied ginger strawberries, while the tart tatin was served with coconut rum ice cream.  I think it would be hard to go wrong with either choice.  However, neither is on the regular dessert menu, so your opportunity has passed.

I'm afraid I cannot offer an educated review of the wine pairings, as we did not have wine on this particular evening.  Usually, even if I did not have wine, I would offer some commentary on the selections offered.  I am actually quite impressed with the collection at Pyramid managed by their Sommelier, Hunter Hammett, and stored in full view at either end of the main dining room behind glass walls.  His efforts to offer uncommon bottles are certainly to be commended.  Unfortunately, I cannot tell completely which wines were being poured from the menu descriptions.  For example, the pairing for the Seared Scallops was "Bouchaine, Chardonnay, Carneros, Napa Valley".  Although I am seldom excited by a chardonnay, this offering did catch my attention.  The Bouchaine Winery standardly produces two chardonnays.  I would consider either of them to be significantly more delicious than over ninety percent of chardonnays produced in California.  Their Estate Chardonnay is aged mostly in oak, which is normally a red flag that I will not enjoy the wine, as this usually means the oakiness will overpower the natural flavor of the grapes.  However, this particular chardonnay is beautifully balanced, and the light oakiness actually provides nice depth in my opinion, although I certainly have an amateur palette when it comes to wine.  Their Chene d'Argent Chardonnay is aged entirely in stainless steel, which is usually my preference and has a very clean chardonnay flavor.  I do not know which of these wines is held in Mr. Hammett's collection, but I would drink either of them.  Also offered was "Domaine des Cassagnoles, Côtes de Gascogne".  Domaine des Cassagnoles is a French winery that produces wines identified on Pyramid's wine list as "underrated", which is a fitting label.  I have only had the pleasure of one of their wines once, and I was quite impressed, considering it was quite affordable.  However, Domaine des Cassagnoles produces several wines, all of which are classified as Côtes de Gascogne, so I honestly do not know even if they were pouring red or white in this particular instance.  I was also impressed to see a selection from Kiepersol Estates Winery.  In my opinion, this is an underrated winery in general.  They are surprisingly located in Tyler, Texas and have produced some very nice wines from their East Texas location.

I do have to applaud the choice to serve Domain de Canton with dessert.  This is a ginger-flavored liqueur produced in France, which should not be confused with The Original Canton Ginger Liqueur from China, which is no longer produced.  This newer French offering is basically a combination of fresh ginger syrup and VSOP cognac.  There is no mistaking the dominance of the ginger flavor, and it is very nice after dinner.

Since Pyramid only ran the Restaurant Week promotion for one week, and the majority of the menu options are not from their current seasonal menu, please allow me to make some suggestions of items I have recently had the pleasure of tasting that are presently available.  For starters, the Ahi Tuna Tartare is quite exceptional.  After being freshly cut and prepared, the tuna is encased in an "avocado dome" and served with sweet and sour tomatoes and marinated cucumber salad.  For another protein in its purest form, I highly recommend the Bison Carpaccio.  Beef Carpaccio often has such a subtle flavor that it can be quite easy to overpower on the plate.  However, in this case the fresh pure flavor of the bison comes shining through even over top of strong flavored accompaniments like caper berries and dijon vinaigrette.  Believe it or not, I actually grew up in an area where fresh bison was quite common, so bison meat is another area where I am especially particular, and this was nothing short of delicious.  If you are looking for a salad, I would have to recommend the Baby Beets.  This is two varieties of beets, fresh local goat cheese, and mango served with "rooftop honey" and a beet vinaigrette.  Flavors just don't get any fresher than this plate.  When it comes to entree selections, I truly believe it is impossible to go wrong at Pyramid, so choose your favorite protein and expect to be surprised with the preparation.  There are several eye-catching desserts on the menu, including a Ginger Lemongrass Panna Cotta and a Local Cheese Plate.  However, if you think about it, ask your server about their signature souffles (not on the menu) before you start your meal.  If you are looking for a light and fresh flavor in the gooey richness of your souffle, I suggest the raspberry, served with Raspberry Creme Anglaise.  For something even richer and sweeter, I recommend the banana version, served wtih Banana Creme Anglaise and freshly caramelized bananas.

In short, Chef Andre Natera has impressed us once again.  Pyramid has truly been reborn, and I hope to see you there in the future.

KRLD Restaurant Week presented by Central Market, which showcases North Texas’ thriving culinary scene, offers tasty three-course prix fixe dinner combinations priced at only $35/person (tax, tip and drinks billed separately).  What’s more, consumer patronage helps support local fine dining establishments and two great charities.  For every prix fixe meal purchased, participating restaurants will make a $7.00 donation to either the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas or Lena Pope Home in Fort Worth.  Reservations are required.  
 
“This is one of our most popular fundraisers, and is an ideal time for consumers to acquaint themselves with the area’s hottest menus, while potentially discovering their favorite new establishments,” said Jan Pruitt, president and CEO, North Texas Food Bank.  “Each meal consumed during this timeframe enables our organization to put food on the table of area children, families and seniors who are going hungry today.”  This year’s fundraising goal is $550,000 dollars, which is nearly $50,000 more than what diners across Dallas and Fort Worth helped generate in 2009.

“This appetizing fundraiser enables friends, relatives and business partners alike to enjoy a night out,  while shining a spotlight on culinary standouts located throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex,” said Todd A. Landry, executive director, Lena Pope Home.  “Who would turn down the opportunity to dine out and support the best restaurants at a discounted cost, while helping local children and families in need?”

See our online index of participating restaurants for dates of availability as well as menus for many locations.

The Dallas Life Newsletter supports Jamie Oliver's efforts to improve nutrition in our schools.