DRINK OF THE MONTH
Seems like just yesterday when Perrier was the most-requested non-alcoholic beverage at watering holes around town. But that was yesterday. We wondered if, water-wise, there were any new faves on the block, so we polled 32 local bars and restaurants and found out that yep, sure enough, most don’t even stock Perrier anymore. Artesia is the water of choice these days, followed closely by Evian.
Lemmon is adiverse avenue ofdonut shops,steakhouses,French, Italian,Thai, Chinese, Tex-Mex, barbecue,and seafoodrestaurants allpeacefullycoexisting.
Profile About a month or so ago, The New York Times paid homage to Mia’s Tex-Mex Restaurant on Lemmon Avenue, but the kudos contained a phrase that left Paul Rodriguez reeling. “Mia’s sits on a strip of highway known more for its car dealerships than for dining establishments,” the Times said. For quite a few months, Paul, whose family owns Mia’s, has been hitting the pavement, drumming up interest among other neighborhood restaurateurs for his Lemmon/Oak Lawn Restaurant Association idea. “I read the article and thought, this is exactly what I’m trying to change. I think with our new association we can not only promote and offer support to restaurants in the area, but hopefully we can adjust a few attitudes about Lemmon Ave. at the same time.”
-Anne Warren
A Place to Lunch and Linger On the Road By now, foodies worth their salt will have rushed to visit Epicure Highland Park, opened in HP Village too recently to have been reviewed yet in these pages. To make a really informed critical comparison, though, you’ll have to trace the place back to its roots-in Southwest Fort Worth, where the original, Epicure on the Park, has flourished in its pretty, park-like setting for more than three years. Launched by Marina Bowers and her son Peter, the quietly stylish original won immediate favor with the lunch-and-linger locals. What they like: Epicure’s eclectic menu of from-scratch soups, salads, sandwiches,fresh pastas, chicken, and fish, plus someof the most decadent desserts known toman. Recent examples: a tortellini soup,nakedly simple in scallion-strewn broth;fine-textured ravioli in fresh tomato-basilsauce; a wedge of strawberry shortcakelavished with artistically sculptedwhipped-cream frosting. What we’ll havethat they don’t: dinner nightly. AtEpicure on the Park, lunch is servedMon.-Sat. from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinnerFri. and Sat. only, from 6-9:30 p.m. 2455Forest Park Boulevard, Fort Worth.(817) 921-4938. -Betty Cook
A Sho-Nuff Cure for the Blues barbecue R.J. Williams (above), or R.J. Sho-Nuff, as he prefers to be known, opened a kitchen on the site of the old Jerry’s Barbeque on Maple next to Herrera’s less than a year ago, and word of mouth has been building among barbecue cognoscenti ever since.
For months we’ve heard persistent rumors that in addition to us regular laypeople, R.J.’s is also becoming a barbecue hangout for denizens of the blues world. We couldn’t think of a better way to check this out than to track down legendary bluesman Zuzu Bollin for a little barbecue tete-a-tete over lunch at Sho-Nuffs.
Zuzu’s not into spicy food, but he does get his share of barbecue. When he plays blues festivals in Chicago, Kansas City, or Atlanta, they barbecue right on the grounds or truck the stuff in. In Fort Worth, when he plays the J&J Blues Bar, he makes sure he hits town early enough to eat at Angelo’s, a longtime haven for hard-core barbecue lovers.
Anyway, we found out the rumors aretrue. R.J. Sho-Nuff’s has become a favoredspot for Zuzu and other blues hounds,prompting Mr. Bollin to say: “It may not begood for you, but it sure is good to you.”Well, that’s good enough for us. R.J. Sho-Nuff’s, Real Southern-Style Barbecue.3910 Maple Ave. -Michael Pellechia
CHEAP EATS
MALT MANIA
It’s too hot to misbehave in any meaningful way, but an innocent little sin makes sense. Like a decadently thick, outrageously rich matt of the chocolate variety. Ouch.
Burger House, 6913 Hillcrest. Nobody who works here ever seems to smile (maybe they’re too busy; this campus fave is always full), but the malts are authentic in flavor and texture, if a trifle stingy for the price ($2).
Dalt’s, 5100 Belt Line. The soda-fountain ambience is strictly latter-day in character, but this place offers the time-honored malt-or-shake choice all righteous fountains used to-$2.75.
Fenders. 2231 W. Northwest Hwy. No, you haven’t been Quantum Leaped back to the Fifties- this drive-in’s a purely now reproduction, vintage car decor and living carhops notwithstanding. But the service is friendly, and the $2.35 chocolate malts are fine.
The Soda Shop, 501 Elm. Speaking of reproductions, thisfool anybody, but the chocolate malt we had took us back to the good times, served in an old-fashioned soda glass, with half as much more in the blender tumbler brought for lagniappe. At $1.95, this was the best we’ve had in years.
Sonic Drive-ln-Dallas, 5014 Ross Avenue. Remember when these were the Cadillacs of the drive-in genre? Sonics have -survived, and this one, at least, still whips up a malt worthy of the name and memory, in two sizes, so you can sin a little for $1.18, or a little more for $1.61.
-Betty Cook
NEW RESTAURAN
The Big Tomato
JOEY TOMATO’S ATLANTIC CITY So what do George Toomer (pundit and junk-food critic extraordinaire) and Guy Calluaud (the city’s most honored French chef and restaurateur) have in common? Well, they are partners, of sorts, in Joey Tomato’s on McKinney. According to the hype (no doubt stage-managed by Toomer), at Joey Tomato’s “it ain’t pasta, it’s spaghetti,” meaning the food is decidedly unpretentious. But at least-surely due to the influence of Calluaud-the food is mostly quite tasty. This is a reasonable trade-off; however, there is cause to lament-because of this venture, Calluaud has given up his own Brasserie down the street. It was a bastion of quality among the dwindling number of French restaurants in Dallas.
Joey Tomato’s has a large menu centered on (what else?) pizza and spaghetti. The pizza curiously fails to satisfy-the crust is bready and the sauce not assertive enough, though the toppings we sampled were laid on amply. The spaghetti, on the other hand, is among the best in town. It comes from the kitchen al dente and hot, and the sauces we tried (both meatballs in tomato sauce and meat sauce) were outstandingly tasty. Other more recherche sauces, like pesto and Spaghetti Western chili, are also available. We hate to call Toomer a liar, but the other pasta dishes also had some merit. The fettuccini primavera had nicely crisp veggies tossed with its creamy sauce, the manicotti-cannelloni combo showed that both of these items are a success, and the King Vito baked lazagna [sic] had an interesting herbed ricotta stuffing. The tomato sauce that topped both the tasagna and the spaghetti that accompanied meat entrees, though, was thin-tasting and unpleasant. Those entries, in any case, really cannot hold up against the (excuse me, George) pasta dishes; the steak pizzaiola suffered from chewy beef, and the special of mahi-mahi with roasted tomato sauce lacked pizazz.
All entrees come with a fabulous house salad-simitar to, but really better than, the Caesar salad available for an extra tariff. Portions are large enough that you may not care about appetizers in addition to the salad, though there are some good ones here. A cream of vegetable soup of the day displayed the Calluaud influence with a very French combination of richness and delicacy. Fried zucchini were breaded in crumbs rather than a heavy batter, had no overtaste of bitterness, and combined a crisp crunch and melting tenderness. (Avoid the accompanying honey-mustard sauce, though.) Garlic shrimp were nice, if not particularly memorable, but the cheese pizza nachos would make a great munchy either before a meal or with drinks.
Desserts are among the highlights at Joey Tomato’s. Sweet souffle’s bring back memories of Calluaud’s own restaurants (and, as always happened at his places, sometimes they are delivered undercooked and eggj tasting). The tiramisu is unlike the versions elsewhere; here it resembles a layer cake filled with liqueur-soaked pastry cream. It was our favorite dessert at Joey Tomato’s. 3232 McKinney An. 7S4-0380. Daily 11 a.m.-2 a.m. AH credit cards. Inexpensive to moderate. -W.L. Tkitte
A Moonlight Serenade
cuur de lune Trust French thrift to never let a good name go to waste-the first Dallas restaurant to wear this one was an Oak Lawn establishment owned by Clair and Jean Rubede, who are now the proprietors of Capriccio. This new North Dallas Clair de Lune belongs to Mrs. Rubede’s cousin, Beatrice, and her husband, chef Daniel Roger. Perhaps a fondness for moonlight runs in the family: in any case, while the name has been recycled, the fare here struck me as distinctively fresh. Roger’s command of classic French techniques may come from a background that includes cooking at Les Saisons, Old Warsaw, and Cacharel; the dishes we tried from his weekly changing menu displayed flashes of creative wit-in sauces and seasonings, especially-that must surely be his own.
A starter of escargot, for instance, played the near-black snails against snowy pearl onions in a delectable sauce that accented the usual garlic with a haunt of fennel. A lobster salad framed coins of the rich meat with crisp emerald asparagus stalks, Boston lettuce, and chopped tomato.
Not all combinations were as successful. Sauteed sea scallops with basil and tomato sounded nice, but the basil’s distinctive near-fishy taste made it hard to tell whether the herb or the scallops were to blame for the slightly over-strong flavor of the dish.
Caesar salad, though, was irreproachable, and a shrimp appetizer, while not the cilantro-spiked saute’ I ordered, won forgiveness with firm curls of shrimp, lightly curried, on a swirl of al dente angel hair pasta. Entrees were as fine as they looked on the plate: broiled swordfish sparkled in lime and tarragon sauce; sweetbreads were smoothly elegant in vermouth sauce; breast of pheasant’s slight dryness was rescued by its delicate creamy sauce rather than the overcooked shreds of purple cabbage that lay beside it.
The starring dessert, a flawless crepe filled with blackberries and cinnamonned cream cheese, lay on a caramel sauce as golden-clear as topaz.
Service struck that proper chord of warmth without familiarity: crusty rolls, sweet butter, and water containers that never languished empty. I doubt Clair de Lune will either, once its presence becomes widely known. 5934 Royal Lane, Suite 120. 987-2028. Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m. -10 p.m.; Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-5 p.m. All credit cards. Moderate to expensive. -Betty Cook
Bobo’s Smokes
BOBO’S A few seasons ago Bobo’s smoked fried chicken was the hot new junk food at the State Fair. Now the “creator,” Ozell “Bobo” Pope, and his sister, Joy Witzel, have opened a small eat-in/takeout restaurant on Lower Greenville, featuring the hickory-smoked fried chicken (an 85-year-old family recipe) and other smoked foods.
The official title is “Bobo’s Old-Fashioned Smoked Foods” and that about sums it up. Just about everything you eat here is imbued with a deep, hickory-smoke flavor and aroma. In fact, the smoke is so pervasive that even some foods that aren’t smoked taste a little of the wood fire. The smoked fried chicken is the featured item-it’s available by the basket, piece, or as a family dinner-and it’s really the one worth going for. Smoking makes the meat tender and flavorful; the fried crunch gives it a great texture.
Side orders include a decent cole slaw, good fries, smoked beans, and good homemade mashed potatoes, better plain than with the smoked (again) gravy. Biscuits are Southern-style, sweet enough to skip the butter, and homemade desserts really are. No bar-just iced tea and soda. But this isn’t drinking food, anyway. By the way, Bobo’s also delivers. 2014 Greenville Ave. 824-3165. 11-11 daily. MC, V. Inexpensive.
-Mary Brown Malouf
An Arlington Bistro
bistro bagatelle “Bagatelle” in French means a trifle. “Bistro” implies a very limited bill of fare. Neither term describes this new Arlington restaurant, which is simply one of the most delightful French dining discoveries in recent memory.
I don’t know why I should find that surprising: Chef Gerard Bahon, who co-owns the place with his wife Marcelle, is hardly unknown in Dallas, where he earned recognition as executive chef of The Fairmont and Grand Kempinski hotels.
The bistro itself is utterly charming, a recycled ex-residence on West Abrams; however, the food would command a following in any surroundings. Starters were stellar: raisin-apple chutney was a perfect foil for plump, spicy duckling sausage, with a tart of chip-crisp potato rounds for texture contrast. Norwegian salmon Bavarois, a tender molded dome of steamed fresh salmon, sheltered fresh young greens on frisky lemon-butter dressing strewn with yellow and red tomato dice.
Entrees, for once, were not overshadowed. Broiled sea scallops were vast things, each on a cushion of pungently garlic-infused mashed potato, with tomato piperade, an airy fresh puree, sunnily seasoned. Roasted rounds of lamb loin were fork-tender, spiked with peppercorns and a hint of rosemary alongside a vegetable cake of spinach and other fresh greens on moussaka (eggplant-based) sauce. The special of the day was splendid, a saute of rosy shrimp and satin scallops with a single perfect soft-shell crab and tender-crisp ribbons of cabbage on the side. 406 West Abrams, Arlington (take the Collins exit south from 1-30). Metro (817) 261-04X8. lunch Tue.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Tue.-Thur. 6-10 p.m.. Fri. & Sat. 6-11 p.m.; Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. AE. Moderate to expensive. -B.C.
Acadiana Falls Short
Acadiana This is a place 1 would love to recommend. It’s in that artsy part of Oak Cliff near Bishop, so it’s a fun excursion to the prettiest, least-known part of Dallas. The menu is a great read: two pages of Cajun and Creole specialties, some of them expected (blackened fish, gumbo, iambalava), some of them pretty far-out (pork with mofongo, fried dill pickles), and one page of Mexican dishes, mostly seafood-based. The big problem with Acadiana is that the food has never measured up to everything else. It’s very disappointing.
On our first visit, we started with Cajun popcorn, tiny fried crawfish tails with good crunch. Everything sounded so good it was hard to make a choice, but we ended up ordering “Willie Etta’s skillet pork chops” and shrimp and sausage jambalaya. The pork chops were thin, skillet-fried, and crisp, but the baked sweet potato was stringy and the “butter” was margarine. The jambalaya had a very odd taste that 1 couldn’t identify; zucchini succotash, another good idea, was overcooked to the point of disintegration. The Mexican appetizer we tried, a kind of queso flameado, was good, though, and the flour tortillas were excellent.
On our next visit, we tried the Cajun food again. A cup of gumbo, with good flavor but cloyingly rich (read: oily) from too much sausage, and pork mofongo, strips of unseasoned pork sauteed with dumplings of plantain and onion, unfortunately cooked in old grease. Cajun enchiladas were stuffed with flaked fish, bits of tomato, and green pepper, and blanketed with a white cheese. Red beans and rice were bland. Raspberry beignets were the best dessert we sampled- the doughy puffs, a cross between a sopapilla and the French market doughnut-were stuffed with hot raspberry puree.
The couple dining next to us was having the same experience; both their plates went back to the kitchen nearly untouched, and after dinner she leaned over to ask whether we knew what “the problem” was. The restaurant had been recommended to them and was a big disappointment. Of course, we didn’t have an answer. But I wish I did. 324 W. 7th St. 942-9274. Daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. AE, DC. Inexpensive to moderate.
-M.B.M.
A Nuevo-Mex-Fest
Flamingo joes Call me Chicken Betty. The first time 1 drove by Flamingo Joe’s my blood ran cold: a Saturday night it was, and Deep Ellum playmates were packed solid inside its railed patio. From somewhere in their midst, live music lay down an artillery barrage of sound heavy enough to put dents in my car. Don’t get me wrong. I love music, but 1 can’t eat while my bone structure’s being blasted.
I went back on a weekday-warily, first for lunch, then boldly for dinner, and found a place neat enough to draw me in again and again, if never on Saturday (or Thursday or Friday, all live entertainment nights).
The menu calls the food Tex-Mex Tropical. I’d call it Nuevo-Mex instead-the variations on standard dishes, all of them Fresh, many of them involving seafood, owe much to California, nothing to the Caribbean influences “tropical” suggests.
Quesadillas tropical, for instance, enshrined crunchy shrimp and sweet flaked crab with white cheese between paper-crisp, greaseless flour tortillas. The warm cilantro dipping sauce served with them was a joy. The same admirable sauce played great .support to FJ’s beef brisket latnales, which were great-the masa layer not too thick, the beef well seasoned.
Armadillo eggs, a coyly named “FJ original,” turned out to be, not a “kind of Mexican hush puppy.” as our waiter defined them, but croquette-like ovals of spicy chicken, fried crisp in thin tortilla skins.
The entree side held no disappointments at all. Sour cream chicken enchiladas contained much fine chicken in blue corn tortilla folds, lavished with jack and Cheddar cheeses under sour cream sauce.
Enchiladas verde spiked mild, cheese-filledrolls with a lively toinatillo sauce. Rellenostropical stuffed a pungent poblanu withshrimp and crab meat; the pepper’s batterwas totally uncrisp in its sea of sour creamsauce, but the flavors of seafood and peppermelded nicely nonetheless. And the”borracho beans” served alongside werealone worth the price of the dish-instead ofthe usual red or black, the beans were whitenavies, augmented with chopped onion,tomato, and ciiantro, an inspired variation.As were the smooth brandy flan and kiwilime cheesecake, both suitably light andsatisfying. As, in fact, was Flamingo Joe’s ingeneral. 2712 Main St. at Crowdus.748-6065. Mon.Med. U a.m.-midnight,Thur.-Sun. II a.m.-2 a.m. All credit cards.Inexpensive to moderate. -B.C.
Sole Food
Sneakers grille and bar The name tips you to the strategy-this is a sports bar with an emphasis on food. The many TV monitors are constantly tuned to cable sports, and what decor there is fits right in.
The menu is mostly sandwiches, with the best choices being the various burgers, cooked to order and meaty without becoming overbearing, and the charbroiled chicken breast. The “Sneakerkowski-a Polish sausage sandwich-came with a very mustardy potato salad. The closest thing to fantasy on the menu is the jalapeno linguini with chicken strips-unfortunately, it tastes no better than it sounds. Those who don’t want a sandwich should stick to the daily fish special. We Found the grilled halibut cooked to a turn-firm but not dried out.
For a bar and grill, Sneakers does surprisingly poorly by its appetizers. The nachos we tried were limp and unimpressive, and the buffalo wings tasted as if they had been boiled in bottled hot sauce. Fried catfish strips might have made a better entree than appetizer. Desserts also were less impressive than the sandwiches. The so-called mud pie was the same chocolate-and-cookie concoction one finds everywhere. Probably the best choice was the pecan pie, though the crust was beginning to soften up when served to us.
9247 Skitlman. 343-1125. Daily 11 a.m.-midnight. All credit cards. Inexpensive tomoderate. -W.L.T.
Seterry’s: Pure Sorcery
Scterry’s Pre-Nouvelle Dallas diners who remember when Chef Jean LaFont cooked up some of the best French and Continental fare in town (he was executive chef of the Vaccarro restaurant empire) will be glad to know the world-roaming LaFonl is back. They may be less glad to hear he’s performing his classic sorcery in Fort Worth rather than Dallas, but sobeit.
Most of the food on our visit lived up to our expectations, A pate of pheasant and duck was moist and fruity with apple and apricot, lapped with delicate Cumberland sauce. Fragile leaves of salmon carpaccio were nicely zipped with smoked sturgeon and trout in horseradish sauce. Our star starter, tender folds of sweetbread ravioli with wild mushrooms in truffle jus, truffle-garnished, could only be called celestial.
Brie soup seemed oversalted, but its punctuation of sliced mushrooms and chives softened the seasoning, and a cream of blue crab held a wealth of sweet crab shreds in its ruddy, vermouth-scented broth.
A classic Caesar salad, painstakingly orchestrated at tableside, delivered enough anchovy bite to make up For all the Caesars I’ve had that were stingy with the strong little fish; I’d have settled for less, for once.
Ah, but the fresh cherry sorbet lhat preceded entrees was soothing and fine. And entrees themselves, beautifully presented, were memorable. A single plump medallion of veal sauteed in cognac with fresh morel mushrooms was fork-tender, as was the rack of lamb choplets crowned with spinach and mushrooms. Range chicken, boned and braised with wild mushrooms and crawfish in a light cream sauce zapped with champagne vinegar, rose above its genre; and a delicate tilapia fillet’s subtle flavor was enhanced by its roasted red and green bell pepper sauce.
Perhaps we had dined too well, but the dessert cart’s showier selections proved more seductive visually than to the tongue; I’d recommend the creme brulec. which was double-cream satiny and marvelous, one of the best I’ve ever tasted.
I’d recommend reservations, too, Seterry’s was jammed when we were there. 4930 Camp Bowie Blvd. (817) 763-8787. Lunch Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.\ dinner Mon.-Sat. 6-10 p.m. AH credit cards. Expensive. -B.C.
A Vietnamese Adventure
PHo Bang Pho is the Vietnamese one-dish-meal noodle soup-kind of your Southeast Asian hamburger. Pho Van, the restaurant that used to occupy this tiny space, specialized in varieties of pho, but also had a number of other terrific dishes. Pho Bang, the newer enterprise, is more single-minded. Sixteen of the 17 dishes listed on the menu are essentially the same broth with thin, slippery noodles. The choice is what kind of beef product you want on top: thin slices of brisket, flank, or eye of round, or more exotic items like omosa (thinly sliced tripe in rubber-band-like ribbons), tendon (long-simmered for a tender, slightly crunchy texture), or even navel. The soup, with its deeply flavored, truly delicious broth, is accompanied by a platter of bean sprouts, fresh basil, and lemon wedges; the produce alone would cost you almost the price of the soup ($3.50) in a supermarket. The only other dish is a delicious barbecued pork, accompanied by fresh spearmint and leaves of field lettuce. Pho Bang also offers the full range of Vietnamese beverages, from iced coffee to salty lemonade. Probably only those who have been to Vietnam will find this a favorite place, but the soup is good and the prices certainly low enough thai exploration entails small risk.3565 W Walnut Road, Garland, 487-6666.Daily 8 a.m.-9 p.m. So credit cards (checksaccepted). Inexpensive. -W.L.T.
An Italian Bistro With An Innovative Touch
Messinas restaurant and Culinary Centre Jenni Messina has mined her English heritage extensively at her two previous restaurants, Jennivine and the lea shop around the corner. Now she is paying homage to the Italian roots of her family by renaming her tearoom Messina’s and literally running the red, white, and green Italian flag up a pole out front.
Messina’s describes itself as “Italian, with Mediterranean touches,” but if the dishes on the intriguing bill of fare have any particular ethnic tilt at all, it is almost always Italian. About the only exception Is the appetizer called briouates, Greek-inspired phyllo pastry triangles stuffed with spiced lamb and topped with yogurt chutney. This was the best of the starters we sampled, followed closely by the wild mushroom tart with fresh basil pesto.
Among the entrees, the breast of chicken stuffed with mandarin oranges and basil and topped with Gorgon/ola wine sauce was a clear winner-juicy, flavorful, not at all oversweet as we feared it might be. The veal osso buco had a fabulous sauce of thickly pureed savory vegetables, but the veal shank could have used a longer time in the stew pot. Fresh king salmon baked in parchment with artichoke hearts and lemon was not singled out as a heart-healthy item, but surely falls into that category; the pleasant citrus taste helped one to forgive a certain blandness. A couple of pasta dishes had unique flavors. The fresh angel hair pasta in a three-tomato sauce with jumbo shrimp blessedly tasted more of herbs than of tomato; the tiny noodles were also not overcooked.
Desserts blend nicely into the innovative plan of the menu here. The chilled soup of mixed summer fruits was nicely balanced with creamy mascarpone cheese and toasted almonds. The chocolate decadence proved to be a rich, fudgelike wedge surrounded with raspberry cream sauce.
On the whole, Messina’s is an agreeable addition to the growing list (if innovative Italian bistros in town. If so far it’s less consistent than its sibling, Jennivine, it is already more adventuresome andintriguing. 3521 Oak Grove at Lemtnon Ave.528-4109. Lunch Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-2:30p.m.; high tea Mon.-Sat. 2:30-5p.m.;dinner Tue.-Sat. 6-10 p.m. All credit cards.Moderate to expensive. -W.L.T.
Saffron: Hard To Classify
SAFFRON One of the first decisions we D reviewers have to make about a restaurant is how to properly classify it. So when I called to ask about Saffron, which recently opened in the old Chateaubriand space, and was told the menu was “American, with Persian influences,” 1 knew I was in for a categorization dilemma.
The menu covered a lot of territory- choosing representative dishes for reviewing was difficult. We ordered an incredibly eclectic dinner, starting with appetizers of chicken qucsadillas and “roasted tomatoes.” The former were odd, thin, pastry-like tortillas, almost like fried lahvash, enclosing a mixture of minced chicken, red onions, tomatoes, and grated cheese, with maybe some sour cream. The roasted tomatoes were nicely ripe, sliced, broiled, and served with a squiggle of herbed boursin.
Descriptions of entrees were confusing. From a list including steakhouse standards such as filet mignon and “surf and turf,” as well as veal and a “chicken of the day” we selected grilled swordfish, simply and competently cooked, and beef stroganoff, little bits of braised beef in sour cream gravy served with a mountain of “German noodles’-spaetzle. actually, scented with allspice. In addition to a “chicken of the day,” Saffron offers a “roast of the day”; on our visit, (he well-done slices of beef were blanketed with a cream-enriched sauce containing lots of pink, green, and black whole peppercorns.
By far the best dish we tried was chvllu kabob barg, from the section of Persian specialties. Squares of tender meat, tangy from their marinade of lemon, pepper, and olive oil, had been grilled till well done but still juicy.
The weeding-out of Dallas’s restaurantscene is probably a good thing. But it stillseems to me that the best way to survive isnot by trying to do everything, but byfinding your own piece of the pie and doingit best. We’ll probably classify Saffron as”American,” but 1 would rather be able tocall it “Persian,” since that is where thetaste and talent lie. 3701 W. NorthwestHwy., Suite 173. 351-6063. Lunch daily Ha.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.-Thur. 5:30-10p.m., Fri.Sun. 5:30-11 p.m. Ail creditcurds. Moderate. -M.B.M.
