Filament Serves Lunch Now (And Yes, It’s Amazing)

Let’s talk beef tartare. More specifically, let’s talk about how this dated dish has been the embodiment of obligatory French cuisine first plates in America for over two decades. If steak tartare were a muppet, surely it would be Statler, or perhaps Waldorf; it’s establishment, it’s old school, it’s boring. But in keeping with chef Matt McCallister’s visionary ability to usurp the best tastes and textures of classic cuisine, re-tool them with seasonal and regional flair and technically execute a dish that both comforts and challenges, Filament's dry-aged beef tartare is less aging Italian mobster and more Elon Musk running a craft brewery.

The tartare is just one of the high points of Filament’s newly launched lunch menu from chef-owner McCallister and executive chef Cody Sharp. It offers a slimmed-down selection of sharable small plates available during dinner, as well as five new lunch-friendly entrées, mostly Southern and seasonally inspired riffs on French and American classics. Between the excellent food and the pleasing decor, the Deep Ellum lunch set now has an exciting new option for their midday meal.

If time allows, sample a few shareable small plates like the highly lauded Johnny cake okonomiyaki or the aforementioned beef tartare. A signature Southern twist on a French classic, this shareable plate of finely minced dry-aged sirloin is mingled with crunchy parsnips and whole pickled mustard seeds, held lightly together with a cured egg yolk and topped with a few dollops of smoked mayonnaise. The combination of silky richness and rustic smoke is accompanied by thinly sliced, crunchy toast crisps. I wanted to climb inside this dish and live there for the summer. I most definitely did not want to share.

The large plate options offer a diverse selection of standard lunch fare and less traditional, larger entrées. The salad is a light and lovely Southernized take on the classic salade Lyonnaise: ample bites of smoked trout on a bed of frisée, delicately dressed with creole-mustard vinaigrette and topped with thick-cut bacon lardons and a crispy egg.  A refreshing lunch option, it makes a great addition to the other sharing plates, but might not satisfy a big appetite on its own.

Vegetarians can rejoice at having a non-meat option your carnivorous friends will envy. The cauliflower country captain is a veggie-friendly reimagining of a recipe known mostly around Charleston and other regions of South Carolina. Traditionally a chicken dish slow simmered in a tomato-curry sauce with peppers and currants, this dressed-up, meat-free homage was easily the most enjoyed entrée. A seared, smoky cauliflower steak plated with perfectly cooked farro and smothered with a bright curry of roasted peppers, tomatoes and pickled raisins, the dish was large enough to share, but so well-executed you might fight your friends to the finish.

The chicken salad sandwich is more in keeping with tradition than other large plates, but a few subtle innovations keep it fresh. The not-too-creamy chicken salad comes on bright orange sweet potato brioche with smoked pear butter and a side of house-made salt and vinegar chips.

Midday diners have the option of three lunch-friendly sides, mostly dressed-down versions of their dinner offerings, with an added broccolini dish. The Southerner in me went for the hoppin’ John; the lunch option is similar, but more simplified than their dinner dish (i.e., no black truffles). The only near miss of the meal, it came slightly overcooked, and the Anson Mills beans could do with a touch more snap. What the dish lacked in texture it made up for in flavor; a touch of smoke, bright with seasoning, and not over-salted (a common cardinal sin against this Southern staple). Served with Filament’s house-made hot sauce and topped with a smattering of crunchy scallions, the large bowl could easily serve three as a side, but a single hungry lunchgoer could scarf the entire bowl as a soul-warming main course on a blustery day.