When Danielle Custer was named one of the ten best new chefs in America by Food and Wine magazine in April, she was astonished. “I had no idea they had even been here,” said the innovative cook, who has turned Laurels restaurant (Sheraton Hotel, 12720 Merit Drive, near Interstate 635 and Coit Road) into a Dallas dining destination. But given Custer’s globe-hopping menu, it’s easy to see why she was chosen for the accolade: A dish like savory roasted quail—seasoned with an aromatic rub of lavender and black pepper and sided by balsamic-touched portobellos and a salad of arugula and baby spinach—would be on anybody’s top-ten list.
Laurels restaurant. Sheraton Hotel, 12720 Merit Drive, newar Interstae 635 and Coit Road, Dallas.
Try this recipe for Lavender-Dusted Quail Salad from Laurels’ Danielle Custer.
