Il Cane Rosso
Dallas All we’ll say is run, don’t walk, to sample Jay Jerrier’s microthin Neapolitan pizzas cooked in a portable oven brought over from Italy and fired with Texas hardwoods. We started with disarmingly plain but delicious focaccia, followed by the pizza capricciosa, with prosciutto cotto, artichokes, olives, basil, and hand-pulled mozzarella. We finished with a dessert calzone filled with chocolate and marshmallow, generous enough for four. For now, Il Cane Rosso is time-sharing the dining room of Chocolate Angel Too bakery (the bakery’s open during the day, the pizzeria at night; look for the pizza trailer in the parking lot). And don’t wait till late to show up: When they’re out of dough, you’re out of luck. BYOB. 11909 Preston Rd, at Forest Ln, northwest corner (214-577-6747). Dinner Thur–Sat 5–10 (or until the dough runs out). Closed Sun–Wed. $–$$ W+
Rockwood Room
Houston The contemporary open kitchen is about the only nod to modernity. Otherwise, Rockwood is retro: Sinatra in the background, a TV over the bar, comfy booths for chatting, classics like prime rib and lobster tail occupying a goodly portion of the menu. We enjoyed a nice endive salad with pecans and Gorgonzola and a hefty twelve-ounce New York strip, broiled, with cognac-peppercorn cream sauce and french fries. More stylish, the tasty shellfish chowder—really more a creamy soup with morsels of fish and a few clams—outclassed the three “Pumpers”: “patty melts” of Kobe beef, Muenster, and onion on pumpernickel. Bar. 5709 Woodway (832-251-9463). Open Tue–Thur 11–11, Fri 11–midnight, Sat 11–1 a.m., Sun 11–9. Closed Mon. Reservations recommended.
$$$–$$$$ W+
