Every restaurant has a best seller. It's usually the dish the restaurant is "known for" according to your aunt, or the dish that a mountain of food bloggers have called "a must have!!" It's the dish that is mentioned in the framed Best Ofs on the restaurant's walls. The one that got them that mention in USA Today for being THE 5 MOST MOSTS OF INSERT YOUR TOWN HERE!
But, there's also another dish. One you probably have never tried. One you've thought to ask your "I just started working here last week, and my haircut says I don't know how mirrors work!" server about and never thought to ask the chef about: "Which one's your favorite?" The chef's favorite dish at the restaurant is the whole concept and meaning of the restaurant in a bowl. It's all the chef's favorite memories from childhood on a plate. It's more awesome than boobs, and you can't even talk about it right now because you're overwhelmed with holy-shit-y'alls. The chef's favorite dish can be many different things, but it probably involves something other than steak and potatoes. It could just be Cheetos Three Ways, a chef's giant middle finger to GMO-lovers. It could be a farm on your table, because the chef is feeling super literal right now. Most important — you need to eat it right now.
Welcome to "You Like This," in which we ask chefs two questions: 1) What's the best-selling dish at your restaurant? and 2) What's your favorite dish at your restaurant? We hope the answer to the first question will open your eyes to the fan favorites and the Dallas palate, and that perhaps the answer to that second question will inspire you to go out on a kickass food limb once in a while.
First chef up: Oliver Sitrin from Blind Butcher.
Hey, chef! What's the best-selling dish at Blind Butcher right now?
The best-selling dish is a toss-up between brisket cheddar jalapeño sausage and poutine. The sausage is an easy favorite: Chef [Brian] Bell hand stuffs each one with Texas brisket, white cheddar and roasted jalapeños (served on a bun with yellow mustard and chef Bell's pickles). The poutine is fun, delicious and great for sharing before, during and after drinking . We have four different poutines on the menu right now: duck, pork belly, mushroom and a new favorite, Texas BBQ . The Texas has pulled pork BBQ, cole slaw, tortilla strips, BBQ-spiced french fries, cheddar cheese curds, bacon and scallion. Pretty dank.
What's your favorite dish at Blind Butcher right now?
My favorite dish to make is the meat and cheese board. It has so many components and they change. The meat and cheese board may not look the same twice in a night, but they are all beautiful and filled with days — sometimes months or years — of preparation. It has its own wild style.
If you've never been to Blind Butcher, hopefully you'll get your head out of wherever it has been lodged this whole time and go there. Worried the food at Blind Butcher is too awesome for your burger-loving, safe-food-eating self? Sitrin says to try the pig ears or tripe and tail if you're a meat-and-potatoes person who is looking to try something new and (my word) badass. Go there. You like this.
