bobag87

He would also have to find a chef that could pull it off. My wife continually debate whether a restaurant like that could survive in the Dallas dining scene that is too often style over substance.

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It's been overhauled, perhaps, but it's barely working. Most of the links are not hot. ← I guess I just opened it and looked at the menu. The menu links worked for me. Hopefully, you will be able to take a pass through it. It is a controversial place in SF. Most of this is due to the strictly enforced "no fragrance policy." The owner is a bit of a character from Brooklyn and some people are not fans of his or how he enforces the policy, but he has always treated me well when I have dined there. He also has provided decent wine selections from a fairly extensive Itallian focused list. All of this aside, I think the food is truly fantastic, especially the pastas. The chef has remained with the restaurant, which is unusual in Santa Fe. She deserves a lot of credit for creating great Italian food in a climate where everyone wants to focus on Southwestern. It looks to me that the pricing has been scaled back some. I know in January, he had reworked the menu to make prices more reasonable due to the economy. It is still not a cheap meal, but one I have always found to be worth it.

For what it is worth, I note that Trattoria's website has been overhauled and is now working.

I stopped in and had a glass of wine and a couple of tapas at Si this afternoon in the State Thomas area of Dallas. The food was great and I was able to visit with the owner, who is from Madrid. This place is the real deal with traditional tapas. The menu contains a good selection of tapas and a few larger courses. They had a good wine list, focused on Spain with great prices. The owner indicated that they are planning on doing Sunday brunch with large paellas made outside on the back patio. For what it is worth I had the croquetas de jamon and gambas al ajillo. Both dishes were very traditional and good. Hopefully, next weekend the wife and I can go and try more dishes. This is definitely a great addition to the meager Dallas tapas scene.

I have not been to the Cantina in some time. It is right next to the restaurant on the roof. The Cantina's food in the past was more bar type food and was always good for casual food. The drinks there were always decent, and as I note above, the actual restaurant served me a good cocktail (a deconstructed manhattan). They had a large menu of signature cocktails. Many of which looked quite interesting. My guess is, for a casual meal, the Cantina would be worth the effort. I cannot however, recommend the restaurant based on my last visit.

What was so disappointing (or "downright bad") about Coyote Cafe? ← They offered me a 5 course "chef's menu." Honestly, I had a great "signature cocktail" and the first two courses (Lobster Bisque and French Toast (savory) with Morrells, were decent. That was followed by a huge seafood course that had softshell crab on a bed of potato salad and a lobster tail on a bed of warm caesar salad. The combinations were in general bad and the food was not cooked well. This was followed with the spare rib on red pepper risotto. Again another huge portion of food, but the risotto was like paste and the rib was extremely stringy. Desert was also bad. I will say that the wine pairings were decent, but the total cost was quite high, even for an upscale restaurant in Santa Fe. I had high hopes and it came highly recommended, but I was very disappointed.

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For upscale, I would try Trattoria Nostrani, just don't wear fragrance as they have a no fragrance policy which they strictly enforce. In my opinion, this is some of the best food in Santa Fe. I was in town two weeks ago and tried Coyote Cafe and was very dissapointed. In fact, it was downright bad. Also, for traditional New Mexican food, it is hard to beat the Shed or Tia Sophia's. Both are a little touristy, but the food is very traditional and spot on. La Boca would be a good pre-theater dinner -- just make sure you have reservations or you may be waiting for a table.

It is called piki at Hopi, where it is most common and easiest to get. Zuni makes it for cermonial occassions where it is called Hewe. It is basically a batter made of blue corn meal, water and salt brush ashes. The batter is hand spread on a stone set over a fire (these stones are heirlooms and take on a polish like glass over the years). The batter is spread to a consistency similar to tissue paper. After it cooks, it is folded and rolled into a cylinder like shape. It is a traditional food that is served at all ceremonies and weddings. We had friends who were sponsoring a ceremony last weekend, and I bet there were at least 75 boxes full of piki that had been made. At Hopi they also make a chili flavored piki colored red and a sweet corn piki colored yellow. The blue piki is available at the Hopi Cultural Center.

Jaymes is correct on a visit to Zuni Pueblo. While a little off food topic, one should note that Zuni frequently has religious observances going on. To see traditional Zuni religious ceremonies is a truely incredible experience, but note certain behavior is expected. A side note, Zuni is a settlement founded in the 1600s. It was a consolidation of several pueblos which were the legendary seven cities of Cibola that Coronado was searching for. In fact, Coronado encountered and engaged the Zunis at Hawiku in 1540. Thus, this is not your typical "pow-wow" touristy type of place and their religious observances are ancient. If a ceremony is occurring, and it is likely that one may be, please: Keep away from the religious figures; Do not have a camera and leave your cell in your car (they will be confiscated); Watch from the rooftops in the plaza; and Respect the ceremony as you would a church service. Outsiders are welcome to most ceremonies if they behave appropriately. On a food note, you might want to look at the Hopi Cultural Center and take a detour to the Grand Canyon through the Hopi Reservation. While I cannot say the food is gourmet, you can get traditional food such as Noqwivi (mutton stew) and great Hopi Tacos. You can also try traditional Piki (Hopi paper bread). My note about Zuni is not to scare you off but to encourage you to go. I just want to make sure that, if you are lucky enough to see a ceremony, you have the knowledge so as not to offend. By the way, the art an jewelry at Zuni (and Hopi) are incredible.

Cabs are not too expensive, and easy to get even for the return journey; and far safer than driving. Especialy as the Sommelier at Mugaritz is worth testing, she often gives very interesting recommendations. ← I completely agree with the cab suggestion. I would not have wanted to drive after our meal and wine at Mugaritz.

I absolutely agree that Coyote Cafe should be on the list. I also think that the Texas take on Southwestern cuisine that was established by Fearing and Pyles is a different ball game than Miller's. I attribute this to the localities and also personally think of the differences as being analagous to the differences between Tex Mex and New Mexican cuisine. Thus I would argue that there is room for Coyote Cafe and the Mansion on the list. I also see validity in arguing who ends up on the list between Fearing and Pyles, I personally think the Mansion was the most influential, but could make valid arguments for Routh Street or later Star Canyon.

As a Texan living in Dallas for the last couple of decades I think that Fearing and the Mansion set the pace for new Southwestern cooking. Personally, I prefer Pyles cooking and over their two new restaurants, I think Pyles is more refined and a better experience than Fearings. However, the Mansion and its epic dishes such as the Tortilla Soup and Lobster Tacos introduced fine dining to Southwest concepts. These are still dishes that are famous in the "Mansion style" today. Pyles greatly contributed to this movement, but I think Fearing was eastablished as the face of modern Southwestern cusine prior to Pyles. Also, if Pyles makes the list, I would argue that his Star Canyon Restaurant was much more important, at least in the Dallas dining scene, than Routh Street or its predecessors.

Lola provided a good meal tonight. The usual nits can be pointed out -- service was slightly akward, but enthusiastic. However, the 10 course (11 with the foie supplement) meal was well done and continues to put Lola up there with the top of the Dallas dining scene. Highlights were: Atlantic oyster with whipped veal stock and fines herbs Mushroom soup with brioche croutons and smoke paprika creme fraiche Texas quail with white beans, salsa verde and picholines The star of the night was Seared Hudson Valley foie gras with bananas. The foie was welll seared and served with a compresed rectangle of banana that had been bruleed on top. A rectangle of banana bread accompanied. The bread was out of place and the plate would have been better without it. However, the banana preparation was outstanding and combined well with the foie. There were a couple of misses, but all in all, it was a great meal Also, the wine pairing worked exceptionally well with the exception of the desert selection which was perhaps overpoweringly sweet.

3 hours to Taylor - might as well drive to Louis Mueller's as try to eat anything in Dallas. ← There are a couple of decent places in Glen Rose west of Fort Worth, but I am not sure they are worth the drive. Unfortunately, the true BBQ meccas of central Texas are a ways off.

Angelo's in Fort Worth has to be up near the top in DFW. Dallas choices are lacking except perhaps Sonny Bryan's original restaurant. Unfortunately, most of the best BBQ is in small town Texas joints. However, Angelo's is definitely worth the time.

Just made reservations for Saturday in the Tasting Room. I will provide an update after dinner. It has been several years since I have eaten here and I have always wanted to go back.

We were at Arzak on April 1 and were seated in the "smoking" section. I did not notice it as a problem. There were smokers at one table, but it did not cause any issues for us (and we have a low tolerance for it). For what it is worth, the meal was so fantastic, that I am not sure that we were focused on smoke. I would not let this stop you from going.

I was able to get my reservations through email at both Arzak and Mugaritz. They were both prompt, helpful and provided options. Arzak seemed to be booked further in advance and only had one opening for dinner. Mugaritz provided several dinner and lunch options. Both were fully booked for the lunch and dinner services on the Saturday we were in town so weekends may be more difficult.

I certainly did not notice any issues or problems. We were well served and treated.

As a new poster, it is great for me to see York Street (our local haunt) getting recognition, not just by Gourmet Magazine, but by eGullet.org. We live a couple of blocks away and have always had it on our list of top ten in Dallas. We actually returned there last Saturday. The experience was great all around. A few problems -- scales and bones in my sardines, but they were so delicious, it was easy to not get too excited about it. My veal cheeks were outstanding. If you are in Dallas, it is definitely a fun place for foodies.

OK, anyone on here use chicos? One of my favorite NM ingredients. I took me a long time to find reliable sources for chicos, but now that we have, we make chicos with green chile several times a year. This is another New Mexico ingredient that is very typical Native American, but I believe is unknown by most everyone outside of the state.

Biskuit, I would not rule out Arzak. It was the highlight of our trip. Mugaritz was great, but Arzak was a truly special experience.

To continue this thread as a resource on DFW places to eat, we had dinner at York Street tonight and it was a good meal. A few missteps -- I had sardines which had a few bones still left in them-- but all in all, it was a good meal. My entre was veal cheeks and they were great. Everyone else enjoyed their dishes as well. I would continue to keep York Street as one of my top ten in DFW.