SOUTHWEST” IS REALLY HOT, AND we’re not just calking chile peppers. Just what is “southwest cuisine?” Most restaurants will tell you what it’s nor: nor Tex-Mex, not Mexican, not barbecue, not…well, not your father’s food. It’s updated, trendy, a take on regional and traditional, reformulated for today’s focus on freshness, color and crunch. One culture’s seasoning, another’s ingredients, a third’s techniques, all stirred up into current cuisine that’s both old and new, yet uniquely now. Sample these six takes.
Lotna Luna Cafe ($) is like a trip to Santa Fe without the airfare. Warm adobe decor suggests a hacienda. Smoke-sweet scent sharpens your appetite for the house specialty: meats, seafood and chicken gently grilled over pecan shells. Have yours Santa Fe-style with posole (hominy) and beans. Desserts are unique: Indian bread pudding or cajeta sundae (homemade vanilla ice cream sauced with sweet caramelized goat’s milk,) 8201 Preston.
Pair your choice of micro-brew with adroitly-prepared entrees with a southwest sting at Yegua Creek Brewing Company ($). The very idea of black bean ravioli topped with Asiago cream sauce is worthy of a cookbook contract They’ve outdone themselves with pizza ideas: smoked veni-son and boar sausage with ancho chiles and wild mushrooms. 2920 North Henderson.
Skip the airline food and stop by Benton’s Grill at the Harvey Hotel ($$) near DFW Airport for wood-fire grilled chicken served with succotash and Texas okra, or pasta tossed with’ southern-style ham and “greens.” (Sous chef Gunison Coe grows all the fresh herbs in his Fort Worth garden.) Esters Boulevard at Highway 114, Irving.
Blue Mesa Grill ($$) is worth a trip just tor the two versions of nuevo adobe pie: chicken, cheese and roasted peppers baked in fresh com masa, and a vegetarian version with whole black beans, tomatillos and mushrooms: The digs are adobe-style with southwest artwork, mesa colors, lots of cactus, Santa Fe-style outdoor dining. 5103 Belt Line at. Tollway, Addison.
You’ll find another visually stimulating setting at Kokopelli by Via Real ($$): adobe-look, waterfalls, potted plants, plenty of peach and teal. The menu sounds more Mex than Tex, but the execution is all Santa Fe-style and Dallas drama. Lots of vegetarian choices: squash enchiladas, garlicky butter beans and rice are my picks. 9090 Skillman, Suite 158, at Audelia.
The Mansion on Turtle Creek ($$$.) is arguably the birthplace of southwest as a stylish four-star cuisine, thanks to the unleashed inventiveness of Chef Dean Fearing, Classically trained, he combines country and western with ethnic into a sort of regional riff, then refines it to the level of a symphony. Try wild boar with cumin black beans and watermelon relish, or a southwest version of veal piccata spiced with lime and served on tomatillo rice. 2821 Turtle Creek Boulevard.
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