[DFW] York Street

[robyn]

It is impossible to dislike York Street – although it is very possible to get lost while driving there. My husband and I take off from the hotel – trusty GPS in the rental car set to York Street. But the GPS directions confuse my husband – and – despite my protests - he winds up taking the wrong freeway exit – an exit 100 feet before the correct exit – an exit that is a dead ringer for the freeway exit in Bonfire of the Vanities. Many U-turns later – we are headed in the right direction again – and about 10 freeways and 42 turns later – we arrive at York Street.

We are exactly on time. This is a busy Friday night - York Street is a tiny restaurant – and there is one open table – for 4. The FOH person – Shaun – tells us our table isn’t ready. About 2 minutes later – a 4 top walks in and is given the table. Shaun tells us there will be a short wait. Steam starts to come out of my ears. But Shaun is disarming. He asks if we’d like a glass of wine or champagne while we wait. I say champagne. And a glass of champagne appears – not any old champagne – but Veuve Clicquot. Courtesy of Shaun. I go outside – and enjoy a cigarette with my champagne. The steam disappears from my ears. Less than 10 minutes later – our table – a 2 top – is ready.

York Street reminds me of some restaurant experiences years ago – when I went to the first restaurants of now-famous Florida chefs like Norman Van Aken and Mark Militello – back when they were young and experimenting – and new things were constantly appearing on the menus of their fledgling restaurants. It’s a great deal of fun going to a restaurant like this. Always something new to try. There will be hits and misses – a lot of singles and doubles – and the occasional home run. But the chef’s desire to do great things is always in evidence.

On this night – the home run is my husband’s starter of soft polenta with veal ragu. A totally world class dish which would be at home at a Michelin 3 star restaurant. I start with the lavender roast quail with ivory lentil vinaigrette – a double. My main is Niman Ranch pork cheeks slow stewed with east Texas creamer peas – another double. And my husband has perhaps the only single of the evening – Summerfield Farms Veal Sweetbreads with “very wild” mushrooms. The mushrooms are excellent – but the sweetbreads weren’t that flavorful (perhaps they never are – my husband is beginning to think that maybe he doesn’t enjoy sweetbreads as much as he used to - and he usually likes them a little crispy on the outside). We end with a dessert called Mango – which is really an Asian flavored rice pudding with mango. Light refreshing way to end the meal.

Although I’m comparing York Street to much more established restaurants in larger cities in terms of food – the damage to our wallet is considerably less than we’d find in those restaurants. About $85 for food without tax and tips. I have a bottle of Veuve with the meal – which is priced just a bit more than a modest 200% mark-up from Costco prices. The service was excellent – and we enjoyed a brief chat with Chef Sharon before we left. And our GPS didn’t get us lost on the way home.

I highly recommend this restaurant – but as with all popular restaurants (we’re not the first to discover York Street) – I’d suggest dining on a weeknight if possible. Robyn

Edited May 23, 2005 by robyn (log)

[Kevin72]

Good review. York Street keeps popping up on my dining radar; and this sealed the deal that I need to get there soon.

[theabroma]

Good review.  York Street keeps popping up on my dining radar; and this sealed the deal that I need to get there soon.

←

Yes, you do. And you need to consider the tasting menu. What an amazing place. What breathtaking food. What a complete lack of fanfare. How incredibly refreshing.

Theabroma

[Kevin72]

Actually, I'm trying to get in there tonight, as it happens. But that definitely adds to the excitement.

[Kevin72]

Actually, I'm trying to get in there tonight, as it happens.  But that definitely adds to the excitement.

←

Yeah. What was I thinking? Only time available was 6 pm, and then that was already snapped up. Maybe try again in a few weeks for my birthday outing.

[Kevin72]

We finally got to go here Friday night. It’s at a hectic intersection where Live Oak becomes Skillman, in a small, unassuming building near a convenience store. It’s fairly “cozy” inside, maybe 13 tables, so that’s probably why reservations are so hard to come by. No liquor; beer and wine only. As soon as you are seated you are given two glasses of dry sherry and a little plate of almonds and olives.

The menu is seasonal-ish, and ingredient-centered, not arch-local the way T’fia is but a similar layout or feel. There wasn’t a thing on there I didn’t want. We started with “Poudre Puff”, a plate of Colorado brie-like cheese with candied ginger, apricots, and a strange thin rye wafer. Unusual; I liked it but my wife wasn’t keen on the bitter aftertaste of the cheese. We had a bottle of MacPherson Texas white (not a Chardonnay) that was quite enjoyable. Also you’re attentively given little ciabatta muffins and a crock of sea-salt crusted sweet butter that is highly addictive.

I saw the peach soup that they have a reputation for, but I couldn’t not try the duck egg appetizer. My wife had the house salad with figs, pistachios, and bacon. They asked us, when taking our order, if we were interested in one of the two special dessert items: cherry clafoute(sp?) or a blackberry cobbler, both of which required advanced notice to make. We ordered the cherry.

What followed was an interminable wait for our salad items, and an even longer wait for our main, despite the restaurant only being about half-full.

For the main I had ordered the braised veal cheeks with sweet wine-glazed morels (the lavender quail Robyn talked about would have been my second choice). My wife had loup de mer (wolf fish or branzino) with a watercress sauce, but it was called “dribble” or something clever like that. We split an order of the spinach, which was silky and perfectly seasoned. The veal cheeks were tender and the sauce was an excellent accompaniment; I nearly licked my plate clean. My wife’s fish was rolled up or in some sort of bundled shape. There was a nice anise flavor to the dish but the very center of the fish was nearly rare, which I know is trendy but didn’t quite work, texture-wise.

Our blackberry cobbler arrived after another achingly long wait (and now the restaurant was one-third capacity). Funny, since we had ordered the cherry clafoute (again, sp?). Not wanting to wait another 20 minutes for them to bring us the right item, we ate it anyways, and it was pretty tasty; we’re just not as into blackberries.

It was a fun night. Obviously they were having timing problems and inconsistencies in the kitchen that they need to tighten up. Things started strongly with a firm handshake from I’m guessing the owner or manager right when we walked in, and then the staff descending on us as we were seated to bring bread, drinks, a menu, and the almonds and olives, but by the end of the evening everything had pulled back. Certainly it is the best fine dining experience we’ve had in Dallas this year and are eager to go back, maybe in the cooler months to see how the menu evolves then.

[Kevin72]

A return visit here this past weekend and I'm prepared to give York St. my coveted "Best Restaurant in Dallas I Can Afford" award. Their current menu is appropriately and intriguingly autumnal: celeriac soup, oysters, mussels, etc. The one sour note was the mussels: a fairly meager portion compared to the collossal servings you get at, say, Cru, and they've got one measely, lonely little piece of bread at the bottom of the dish sopping up all the juices. I guess since their motif is the smaller servings it's in keeping with the theme, though.

My wife disagrees though: she thinks it's a little too pricey in general for what you get. My parents, spoiled by the booming restaurant scene in Houston, were also a little nonplussed.

[Kevin72]

Our third visit here on Friday night was the best outing yet and this time even my wife enjoyed it. She had a crab salad, followed by a spice-rubbed pork chop that was one of the best chops I've eaten in a long time.

I had a half dozen oysters, followed by a braised beef shortrib; I had ordered a lamb entree originally but they were out of it (at 6:30? ).

[ulterior epicure]

The following are excerpts from my blogpost on York Street. You can find the full review, with pictures, at the ulterior epicure.

***********

"With items like sweetbreads, poached sole, and skate wing on the menu and specials like sole roe, it was clear that Sharon Hage is a market-driven chef's chef. I'm not a chef, but I eat like one and my meal at York Street practically assembled itself.

York Street feels like a neighborhood restaurant despite the fact that it's somewhat of a local destination for serious foodies. On the Thursday night that I was there, the tiny restaurant was fairly full for the two hours my friend and I occupied a corner table.

Seating is cozy and quarters are tight--so tight, in fact, at one point, our server awkwardly stood for a good two or three minutes on the other side of two back-to-back diners with our food, unable to reach us. Á la Strictly Ballroom, "he was what we call "blocked" or "boxed-in." Thankfully, he didn't resort to the "inexcusable" behavior that Scott did in the movie.

And I suppose that's a good illustration of how this restaurant's aesthetic. It's extremely casual and homey. Things aren't perfect. But it doesn't have to be. York Street gets by with being quaint and charming. They greet you with warm towels, a shot of sherry, and small dishes of marinated olives and spiced walnuts.

Our server was helpful, but at times a little distracted and overwrought (by what, I don't know). He was helpful in suggesting a half bottle of wine based on the progression of dishes we had ordered. The Vernaccia di San Gimignano was clean and balanced, with a volatile development on the palate ending on a decidedly fruity tart note. Given the wide range of foods and flavors we ordered, it was surprisingly versatile.

Hage's flavors tended to be assertive and bold, which I liked. The "Lobster-y Bisque" is a good example ($12). As my friend aptly noted, was more lobster bisque-y than a lobster-y bisque. The soup was a dairy-less (or, if there was any dairy, there was very little), rich and intensely flavorful shellfish stock garnished with chives and Cheez-It-like crackers (They didn't taste like white Cheddar Cheez-Its, which is what they looked like. My friend agreed, that they looked a little too-perfect to be home-made, although I wouldn't be surprised if there were made in house.).

My only knock against the bisque was that the shreds of lobster meat inside the piping hot soup had slightly rubberized. The presentation was also a bit sloppy--it appeared as if the soup had been sloshed around and then heated so that the soup had baked into the side of the bowl.

I noticed an appreciable amount of acid, whether it be citrus, herbs, or vinegar, laced throughout the dishes we ordered. In some cases, the use enhanced the dish, like the sole roe which was sauced with a tart lemon-caper brown butter that helped cut through the rich, creamy interior of the perfectly pan-fried roe sacks. The roe was very fresh and clean-tasting and I was particularly delighted to have caught this highly seasonal prize.

In other instances, the acid tended to kill, like the lime-marinated shrimp that accompanied my half-order of pink peppercorn-poached Casco Bay sole (normally $30).

They had 86'ed the sole main course, but when I inquired as to whether the chef could accommodate a half-portion of the sweetbreads main course and a half-portion of another dish, our server informed us that they had just enough sole left to make that combination work.

Although the two curled pieces of sole were wonderfully poached, scented lightly with the floral spice of pink peppercorns, the shrimp had been over-marinated and had become tight sour rubber coils. The underlying white corn stew was not sweet enough to counterbalance the overly-sour shrimp. Sweet yellow corn might have worked better.

My friend's Skate "Oscar" was shockingly generous ($29). Her bowl contained two entire skate wings (stacked one on the other) topped with a tangle of spliced logs of white asparagus and peekytoe crab. This could easily have fed two people. Instead of a thick Bearnaise sauce, Hage presented this play on Oscar with a buttery and (black) peppery broth, which complimented the white fish and crab wonderfully. I think there were sauteed leeks in the mix as well as parsley which lent some fragrance. The two or three bites I got were perfect. The asparagus, skate, and crab were soft and moist.

Being the apex of summer, I couldn't resist the "Ripe Tomatoes" ($10), which featured three different presentations of tomatoes: large wedges of fresh tomatoes and grilled cherry tomatoes halves dressed with a roasted tomato vinaigrette. A riff on Insalata Caprese, the tomatoes were crowned with a buttery white nugget of Robiola cheese, which I found just a bit too soft to stand up to the watery tomato. In addition to purple basil, the salad was spiced with clusters of fresh, tart purslane.

On top of all the delicious decisions we made, the best move of the evening was ordering the bacon coleslaw side dish ($5). This crunchy confetti combination of chopped vegetables reminded me of a rough tabbouleh salad, except there was no cracked wheat, a de-emphasis on the parsley, and the addition of celery, carrot and jicama.

Okay, so it wasn't like a tabbouleh at all, but it was good. The slaw dressing was rewardingly tart -- vinegary and bright-- with a pointed kick of heat. The sour and the heat was an inspiring combination. And, the best part--the bacon bits managed to say relatively crispy, despite all the wetness. This was great coleslaw--the kind you want with your sweetbreads.

Hage gets her sweetbreads from the vaunted Four Story Hill Farm in Tyler, Pennsylvania. My half-order (normally $27) was the perfect amount, given all that I had already consumed. The two lovely nuggets had been lightly dredged in flour and pan-fried so that the outside was golden and crispy and the inside was creamy hot.

I loved the cured ham flavor imparted by the prosciutto wrapped around the sweetbreads, but I found the texture of the ham, especially having to cut the leathery ham, to be somewhat distracting. The underlying bed of chanterelle mushrooms were melted and a bit too soft; I like a little texture to my mushrooms. However, the pearls of "big cous cous" had a nice bounce and resistance and the overall flavor of this dish was extremely enjoyable.

Citrus overwhelmed an otherwise brilliant Blueberry Pie. I thought it tasted like orange juice. My friend was sure it was lemon. Here is where our server was less than helpful. When asked, he clumsily dodged our inquiry. I hate that.

Eight dollars is not a small sum to pay for a slice of pie. But this slice was worth every penny. The thin, buttery crust was stuffed full of tiny, sweet Texas blueberries. There was just enough heft and cohesion to the filling to make it easily forkable. It took every ounce of control for us not to leave the table with purple faces.

Peaches are the one thing that, during the brief window of their ripe appearance, I cannot pass up. So while my dinner date inhaled the pie, I busied myself with clearing a beautiful "Peach Buckle" ($8). Served in a shallow baking dish, the piping hot slices of rendered peaches were sealed beneath a crumbly layer of short dough. The whole thing, inside and out, was spiced with cinnamon sugar. The buckle was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...

York Street, as I mentioned up-post, isn't perfect. Service and style can be a bit rough around the fringes and I've seen more comfortable and heard less noisy dining rooms in my time. But, there is a confident vibe to this somewhat quarky operation that makes a serious food lover take notice. Hage's non-intuitive twists in flavor and food combinations indicate a strong independent streak and suggests familial approach ot cooking; it's like home-cooking meets haute-ish cuisine in a neighborhood restaurant. York Street is the type of place where being too polished isn't necessarily a desired trait. For the true foodie, this restaurant is a treasured find and haunt."

[Kevin72]

Fantastic writeup as always UE. Loved the exta touch on your webpage about arriving at York St. by slamming on the brakes. I've been there 5 times now and I still do that.

Hope to hear more about your DFW visit if you went other places!

[Richard Kilgore]

Just in case you missed it - Sharon Hage has yet again been nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southwest. It's about time....

[bobag87]

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.

Edited April 24, 2009 by bobag87 (log)

[robyn]

Shaun's (FOH) mother (she lives near where I live - and got in touch with me with some questions about something after Shaun gave her my name) told me he left York Street quite a few years ago to open his own place. Anyone know anything about that? And how is the FOH at York Street these days? Robyn

[bobag87]

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

[Richard Kilgore]

Today I went to York Street for one of the Tea Pairing Lunches that Sharon does with The Cultured Cup. They have been doing similar lunches and dinners together for six years. Kyle Stewart from The Cultured Cup provided background on the teas - the legends and stories about each tea and how they were named. Kyle's a fine story teller. Good company at my table, too. Here's the menu with pairings.

huang shan maofeng

kumomoto on the 1/2 shell

green tea ice

matcha genmaicha

cracklin' - cekery salad

hard boiled duck egg

the de lune

four story farms pork belly

reisling braised

small white beans & cornbread crumbs

keemun chrysanthemum

savory farro "risotto"

pecorino reserva

green dragon oolong

sweet semolina cake

bitter almond, orange blossom water

house made yogurt creme