Kevin72

Wow, pig snout? Never would've thought. Getting to be the perfect time of year for going there.

On a rack next to the register they have a wide array of truffle products: pastes, canned truffles, truffle sauce, etc. And you can always go two doors down to Spiceman and get fresh truffles this time of year.

They regularly carry buratta, the cream and whey filled mozarella-like cheese from Puglia that's become quite the rage lately. It's imported and even comes in the green leaf-like wrapping that's customary in Italy. You can order your own by getting on their mailing list or going by Fridays and Saturdays and asking if they have any extras on hand, which they usually do.

Great pics. VERY excited about this place. Do you know if that's how the menu will be arranged: by part of the world, or will it be more free flowing?

Cora's replacement is probably the next Next Iron Chef. Hopefully Batali's departure just hastens him going to PBS where he belongs full time.

I'd guess someone may be about to quit, or they're having problems scheduling the current chefs due to their outside commitments. Rumor was that Batali got a pass on appearing this season due to other things he was involved in. Looks like it is Batali's replacement. He wasn't in last night's IC credits at all. Not even listed as one of the Iron Chefs.

Not to look a gift horse etc., but I'd really love it if they uploaded his 90s MMs too.

Well, it's probably old vs. new, but also, aren't those latter three supposed to be used in cooking itself, and not so much a raw garnish over the dish at the end the way these other ones are? I wouldn't want to dust an olive oil poached scallop in garlic salt, for instance.

I think the big development to watch there is that they've cleared the land behind the building to put in their own garden. I haven't been down there as much the past few months. Last time I went they had leek sprouts that were an interesting boost to some pizza I made. I do need to head down once fall gets into full swing because his fresh mushrooms supply is second to none in this city.

My favorite two are the Cypress flake salt and a curried salt at the Plano location. The Cypress flake add great texture to food: razor thin, yet in very large crystalline shapes. The curry salt adds not just good aroma but actual flavor to dishes. I find that the smoked salts add a smokey aroma to food but usually don't carry through to a flavor boost. I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I caught the old A Cook's Tour French Laundry episode and one thing that blew Bourdain and co's mind was the different exotic salts Keller was using. Amazing that in the span of 8 years it went from something the top restaurant in the country was using to being available at stores in the Dallas suburbs.

Went here last night for our last meal. Had to do the Tasting Room of Course. Atlantic Oyster with Green Chiles and Lime Chicken Liver Crostini with Beets and Watercress Cauliflower Soup with Almonds Raisins and Curry Oil Stuffed Squid with Blood Sausage, Onions, and Salsa Sweetbread Ravioli with Sage and Brown Butter Crispy Pork Belly With Figs and Semolina Gnocchi NY Strip With potatoes, Haricot Vert, and Beef Tongue Grapefruit Granita Foie Gras with Apple Clafoutis Cheese plate with roasted grapes and fennel/raisin crackers Lemon/Gin Curd, Blueberries, Pie Crust They seemed to be pushing the envelope more than the previous Tasting room experience I'd had, with lots of offal. It was truly an excellent meal, particularly with courses 3-6. The only issue I'd have is that the oyster wasn't as cold as I'd have liked, and the final dessert seemed to have too much going on. But otherwise I was astounded. Chef Uygur seems to be experimenting with Indian flavors and they really came through in the cauliflower soup, as well as in the blood sausage which used some telltale Indian spices that were offset wonderfully by the salsa verde. Another detail I noticed was how seasonally on-point the menu seemed: it very much straddled the line between late summer and early fall. He seems to be pulling out all the stops in his last days there. Go while you can and mourn the loss for Dallas.

Holy crap I love this place. Like Hugo's when it first opened or Feast, or Dolce Vita and Da Marco, I nearly wept when I went here the first time because we have absolutely nothing like this in Dallas. The level of individual attention you get from the bartenders and their insistence on quality without compromise is so heartening.

This is an Enoteca (wine bar) open where Cafe Belgium(?) used to be, across the street from Hugo's. I had repeatedly heard that Wiles' next venture was going to be an Italian seafood bar, so this was a bit of a surprise for me when it opened. Probably not a bad idea to put something like that off given the economic climate however. Still, Poscol seems to be suffering from a strong independent identity. Everything we had was great as always (the housemade salumi and the beets and goat cheese in parchment being the standouts) but I'm not sure what exactly it offers that separates it from the very similar Dolce Vita just down the street. Poscol doesn't do pizzas of course, but beyond that it's very much in the same vein. They do offer a wide variety of sandwiches but as of right now aren't open for lunch. Likewise for a wine bar they don't have much of a bar area, which would seem to be a natural to pop in at and have a few nibbles between cocktails or glasses of wine. Hopefully the kinks can get worked out though.

Offhand I'd say you probably steam the hearts until soft and puree them. Traditional sformati, or at least the kind in Piemonte, involve a bechamel base, eggs, cheese, and then the puree of vegetables. Bake in individual custard molds or one large one, using a hot water bath around them as they bake (375-400F). I must say that I've been making sformati for years without the bechamel, instead using 3 egg yolks and one egg, and a little milk, then cheese. When I did try it with the bechamel I found that it didn't seem to add much more to the game for the extra prep involved.

Leslie Brenner at Sidedish has the scoop. I can't think of too many more restaurants on the DFW dining scene that would be more crushing to lose than Lola. The news came to Leslie, unfortunately, as she was doing research on her 4 star review in the DMN.

Way late to this but . . . . Eggless pasta, made with durum or semolina, is more common in the southern part of Italy, whereas egg pasta with 00 (soft wheat) flour is more prevalent in the north. Per Mario Batali and I'm sure many others, you want egg pasta with butter and cream based sauces, and durum (dried) pasta with oil based sauces. There's a lusciousness or a "bite" to egg pasta that I think you lose if you get it dried, so it's better to go the fresh route. Which means making egg pasta yourself, since ironically the "soft" fresh pastas typtically available are made with semolina.

Selfishly of course I'd love to see something like that in Dallas. But in this economy? Plus, I worry that to quite a bit of the Dallas dining scene, "tapas" has come to mean certain set dishes in people's minds. Rouge, for example, offered really, really good and innovative tapas, but it never caught on.

Yeah, I had to keep making sure I got the name right. Doesn't roll off the tongue or the keyboard too easily.

Good reviews both and nice to hear it's still humming. I saw Pyles working the kitchen when I was there last year also. I'm hoping to get there for my birthday in the next week or so and will post a review if we go.

In 2006, John Tesar was named head chef of Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas, replacing Dean Fearing. Tesar then oversaw an extensive overhaul and turnaround, creating both a chef's tasting and a chef's table concept for the restaurant and putting in a garden for the restaurant's use. It worked: The Rosewood Mansion was named one of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in 2008, despite being several decades old at that point. In late January 2009 Tesar abruptly left the Rosewood Mansion. At first vowing to stay in Dallas to launch a concept under his own name, Tesar then took a position as head chef of Fishtail in New York City early in 2009. The restaurant recently received a 1-star review in the New York Times. Tesar claims not to have been at Fishtail yet when the restaurant was reviewed, though there is some dispute to this. On May 17th, Tesar announced that he has left Fishtail and will be opening his own restaurant, John Tesar's Modern Steak and Sustainable Seafood in the Woodlands. Peculiar developments to be sure. Most of this was swiped from D Magazine's Sidedish blog, notably here and here. Note that the publicist announcement glosses over the Fishtail jaunt. Original discussions and reviews of the Mansion here.

To my knowledge there isn't much like Indika here. Clay Pit might be close. There's been a flurry of fast-casual Indian places opening lately, many of them Chinese/Indian fusion. Come fall though that may change with Stephen Pyles' new place opening that features small plates from India and South America.

Southlake, which is the next town over from Grapevine, has a Central Market. It also has a neat little urban-style living/shopping area and there you'll find a branch of Campania Pizza there. I can't remember the exact terminology but their Pizza guy is recognized by the DOC-type pizzaiolos of Napoli and it's definitely worth checking out.

Not to rain on the Mansion or anything Chris, but it is currently between exec chefs: Tesar left and moved to NY. So you may want to consider other places that aren't in transition right now. Stephan Pyles would be top of my list. Or Lola, still. Lots to like about York St. Since you're in Grapevine though and just as close to Ft. Worth you may also consider Lanny's.

Glad to hear. I'm hoping this is the start of bigger things in Houston for them after this article and then landing a spot in most of the year end best of lists the local critics put out.

Via Anonymouseater, , Feast gets a writeup by Frank Bruni in the NY Times. It is so, so awesome to see this restaurant getting the kind of push and support from the local community, which is in turn, hopefully bringing attention to what top caliber restaurant town Houston has become over the past decade.