Where to Eat Now 2004

Instead of dishing on restaurants of all vintages, as in the past, this installment of our annual smorgasbord tells you what you really want to know: What are the best new restaurants in Texas?

by Patricia Sharpe

February 2004

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Rouge
HOUSTON
Rouge frustrates me no end. One meal will convince me that it's the best new restaurant in Houston. Another will be merely good. Mind you, everything from Edelberto Gonçalves's eclectic, French-leaning kitchen is brimming with imagination and more than competent. But once you've had his handkerchief-thin cannelloni, filled with a voluptuous leek fondue and gargantuan lumps of crabmeat, on tomato concassé, you will simply not be satisfied with anything less. Which is why tender but mysteriously dry veal loin is such a letdown, and why you crave more flavor in the lobster bisque, cleverly topped though it is with a cappuccino-style froth of whipped cream and cocoa powder. But then you order his suppions—tiny, perfectly tender calamari stuffed with a fine dice of ratatouille in a lovely, almost citrusy tomato broth—and all is forgiven. I expect to be a regular at Rouge, with its winy walls and red roses. The dishes that hit the mark are too intoxicating to miss.

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Local
DALLAS
Show me the cheese. Honestly, I could eat about a dozen cheese courses at Local. The most recent one I tried boasted a heady blue-veined goat cheese, a luxurious triple-cream cow's-milk variety, and a lush, Brie-like sheep's-milk cheese. And the accompaniments—oh, my: roasted pears in a brown-sugar "sauce" plus a sweet conserve of raisins and pistachios in a balsamic vinegar reduction. That Local's two owners—manager-host Alice Cottrell and chef Tracy Miller—go to such trouble for a cheese plate helps explain why they've amassed a following in Deep Ellum's funky music-and-tattoo district. On the restaurant's sophisticated but down-home menu you'll find everything from lamb chops with a Madeira glaze to a (slightly dry) pork chop served with fabulously flavorful braised mixed greens studded with yellow raisins and pine nuts. And did I mention the candle at the entrance that greets you with an all-but-edible scent called Birthday Cake? You're hooked before you even sit down.

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Vic and Anthony's
HOUSTON
The year 2003 will be remembered in Houston as the year restaurant mogul Tilman Fertitta vacuumed up three of the city's most fashionable outposts—Pesce, La Griglia, and Grotto—into his burgeoning empire. Not only that, the mastermind of Landry's and Joe's Crab Shack opened his very own steakhouse, Vic and Anthony's. Clearly, a message was being sent: The man can do class as well as mass. When I first heard about V&A's I thought, "Surf and turf—bor-ing." So imagine my surprise when I had not only a fine time but very good food. Chef Carlos Rodriguez's nine-ounce filet mignon was pure velvet (as well it should have been for $26). The russet-hued lobster bisque bristled with flavor and tender, meaty chunks of lobster. Lump crabmeat was strewn about like popcorn on everything except the crème brûlée. True, the overwrought decor doesn't so much whisper "money" as shout it, but that doesn't bother me. After all, we are in Texas.

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Luna Blue Café
SAN ANTONIO
One restaurant in the Alamo City sent me over the moon last year: Luna Blue. The Mediterranean menu is classic rather than cutting-edge, but little grace notes elevate the ordinary. Chef Louis Halfant's spry apple-cider vinaigrette, for example, subtly transformed a mound of crisp frisée, walnuts, and slivers of sweet golden apple into something delightfully unexpected. Usually a snooze, chicken breast was amazingly moist, a lovely blank canvas for sultanas and pearl onions on warm cornbread pudding. Even the occasional sin—such as stringy crabmeat described as "lump"—doesn't seem quite so grave when you can focus instead on the entrée it adorns, snapper Oscar lavished with a rich, tarragon-touched béarnaise. Now that this hospitable, terra-cotta-pink dining room has gotten my attention, I'll be stopping at U.S. 281 and Loop 1604 instead of flying by at seventy miles an hour. ²

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Standard 2706
DALLAS
You know the look: Budget Revival—a long narrow room with exposed brick walls, low lights, and abstract artwork. It's the look of a restaurant owned by young people who don't have a ton of money and think that the food comes first anyway. Seven months ago chef Timothy Byres, his wife, Brianne, and their manager-partner, Carl Strelecki, opened Standard 2706 in the heart of the Deep Ellum night-crawler neighborhood. Byres' "shrimp pancake," a crêpe filled with shredded scallions, pungent slivers of ginger, and crisp-tender shrimp, came with a gilding of celestial champagne cream. Crackly-skinned, meaty roast chicken was flanked by airy sweet-potato-and-parsnip croquettes that threatened to outshine it. A pair of quail were so juicy and intriguingly spiced that I ended up gnawing their little leg bones like an animal. It's clear that no one at Standard is cutting corners on the food; they have their priorities straight. ³

THE BEST OF THE REST

Where else did I eat well last year? In AUSTIN, my first choice for coddling a wealthy relative who is thinking of changing her will is the Mansion at Judges' Hill; a sublime torchon of barely poached foie gras in a setting of Old World elegance should do the trick. Lots of restaurants try the fancy-schmancy home-cooking routine, but Moonshine makes it work; its limestone rooms and snug patio are just right for eating venison meatloaf or molasses-and-chile-cured pork chops. In DALLAS, The Drálion—a total piece of work with lush burgundy velvet curtains and giant candelabra that evoke both The Phantom of the Opera⁴ and the Forbidden City—has added sushi to its roster of Pacific Rim dishes; my miso-and-sake-marinated Chilean sea bass was fine indeed. Packed from the start, Iris' sleek earth-tone dining room showcases artists' takes on the word "iris" (gossamer flowers, a mesmerizing eye); a well-coiffed crowd chows down on an eclectic choice of dishes like rack of lamb with mint-apricot chutney and Medjool dates. At coolly modern Naan, a Korean restaurant in Plano, you can chill out with sushi or warm up with entrées like yook kai jang, a salty, spicy, elemental broth filled with noodles, bean sprouts, and slices of flank steak. Nandina means "heavenly bamboo," and I thought the souplike Thai green curry with shrimp was heavenly too at this self-styled "Asian tapas" restaurant with pale celadon walls and a black-granite sushi bar. I advise cherry-picking from the offerings at sultry Rouge, with its intriguing Spanish menu; avoid the tragically overcooked mariscada (seafood stew), but consider having seconds of the divine saffron cream sauce that accompanies the petite shrimp-stuffed red peppers. FORT WORTH saw the opening of Zolon; although its name sounds extraterrestrial, this regional American bistro has its feet firmly on the ground with a fashionably contemporary-retro decor and a something-for-everyone menu that ranges from burgers on homemade buns to roasted-pumpkin-and-pear soup.⁵ In HOUSTON, you will not depart hungry from Cava Bistro's simulated subterranean wine cellar; here dishes like a chicken napoleon—unruly layers of grilled fowl, purple potato slices, leeks, mushrooms, and more in an herbed, cream-laced demiglace—are packed with Mediterranean flavors. The name of the Ephesus Anatolian Grill baffled me until I read up on the ancient region of Anatolia and the Greco-Roman city of Ephesus, both part of Turkey; happily, to enjoy Turkish fare like patlican kebab—tasty grilled eggplant and seasoned minced lamb—the only thing you need to read is the menu.⁶ In SAN ANTONIO, I give credit for the year's smartest marketing idea to casual Ciao Lavanderia, where the appetizers, pastas, and all but two pizzas are $6 and the entrées $12; the cooking may be short on finesse but the results—in dishes like lusty polenta with portobellos and goat cheese—are long on flavor.

ARTISTA Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby, Houston 713-278-4782

AURORA 4216 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas 214-528-9400

CAVA BISTRO 301 Main, Houston 713-223-4068

CIAO LAVANDERIA 226 E. Olmos Drive, San Antonio 210-822-3990

THE DRÁLION - Closed

EPHESUS ANATOLIAN GRILL - Closed

IRIS 5405 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas 214-352-2727

JASPER'S 7161 Bishop Road, Plano 469-229-9111

LOCAL 2936 Elm, Dallas 214-752-7500

LUNA BLUE CAFÉ - closed

MANSION AT JUDGES' HILL 1900 Rio Grande, Austin 512-495-1800

MOONSHINE 303 Red River, Austin 512-236-9599

NAAN 7161 Bishop Road, Plano 972-943-9288

NANDINA 5631 Alta Avenue, Dallas 214-826-6300

ROUGE 5027 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas 214-350-6600

ROUGE 812 Westheimer Road, Houston 713-520-7955

STANDARD - closed

TERRA BOSCO'S - closed

UCHI 801 S. Lamar Boulevard, Austin 512-916-4808

VIC AND ANTHONY'S 1510 Texas Avenue, Houston 713-228-1111

ZOLON - Closed

^{1 Update January 2007: Terra Bosco’s, Houston, is closed.
2 Update January 2007: Luna Blue Café, San Antonio, is closed.
3 Update January 2007: Standard 2706, Dallas, is closed.
4 Update January 2007: The Drálion, Dallas, is closed.
5 Update January 2007: Zolon, Fort Worth, is closed.
6 Update January 2007: Ephesus Anatolian Grill, Houston, is closed.}

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