What defines an exceptional dining experience? For me, it’s when excellent service, intelligent design, and delightful food converge. At Local, those three integral components consistently come together to create a memorable meal.
First, there is the ambience. Historic meets modern in this space, with its exposed bricks (from a former exterior wall) and smart, sleek surfaces (like the laminate tabletops). It’s a bit of an unlikely backdrop for the homey cuisine, but somehow, perhaps because of the Deep Ellum address, it works.
Second, there’s that comfort food, updated, including cheese from boutique producer Cowgirl Creamery and meats from Niman Ranch. An appetizer of fried green beans was a home-style spin on vegetable tempura; the green beans snapped, as they should, underneath their crust. The garlic-thyme dipping sauce, thick enough to cling, was a nouvelle spin on tired old ranch.
Mains are refreshingly small, portion-wise, and show care in their preparation. A Niman Ranch lamb chop would have been delightful if it weren’t for the excessive marbling—disappointing given the amount served. But the accompanying Madeira lavender sauce was a refreshing departure from rosemary or mint. A filet special, a towering slab of melty tenderloin, cut cleanly with a butter knife. Maytag butter sauce took it up a notch.
The service, however, is where Local shines, from the warm greeting by a proprietress (that night it was chef Tracy Miller), to the doting and knowledgeable waitstaff. We were on a bit of a schedule, as we had a show to see at the Music Hall, and the entire meal could not have been timed better, nor were we rushed between courses. That’s a hard balance to strike.
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