Our Restaurant Critic Gives Thanks for Local Haunts, the Guide and Readers

As you read this, preparations for Thanksgiving feasts across the country are well underway (and if you’re reading this and your turkey is still frozen, might I suggest our list of restaurants serving up Thanksgiving meals to go). I’m sure many of you are fretting over the perfect dressing or pumpkin pie, or dreading extended time with relatives. I might even go so far as to hint that some people are still worried about the Dallas Cowboys, but I wouldn’t want to kick any fan while their team is so clearly down.

But let us not forget the spirit of the holiday, which is to be grateful for everything we have. As the year winds down, it’s easy to get caught up in things we need to do instead of reflecting on the things already in front of us. I’m guilty of this; it’s a busy time in the Observer’s food section as we’re putting the finishing touches on this year’s Top 100 Restaurants update, but it also forces me to reflect on the year that was. And there’s certainly plenty in Dallas’ restaurant world to celebrate.

Dallas’ Neighborhood Restaurant Renaissance

Whether they’re bistros, local haunts or the corner bar and grill, a theme I couldn’t help but notice this year is the renaissance of the neighborhood restaurant. Instead of out of town corporations throwing big money into a glitzy concept, Dallas is awash in American bistros woven into the fabric of their neighborhoods. These are the kinds of places where you can eat on the regular and don’t require special occasions to enjoy.

We touched on this theme in our review of Goldie’s in August, but the trend of smaller local spots is hard to miss among our reviews this year. Spots like Alice in East Dallas, Goodwin’s on Greenville Avenue, Cuates Kitchen in Oak Lawn or Cenzo’s in Oak Cliff (the home of our editor’s favorite sandwich ever) have little in common across their menus, but they share a theme of being adored by their neighbors.

You can sense the difference in these restaurants when you stop in for a meal. They’re inviting, the service is friendly and sharp without feeling stuffy, and the food is well executed across the board. Sure, we eat at plenty of “destination” spots, but I know a restaurant is nailing the local feel when I find myself wondering what it would take to move into the neighborhood. Nevertheless, you don’t need to be a local to feel included. It’s a kind of effortless magic that can’t be faked, and we’re here for all of it.

Michelin’s Guide Will Make Dallas Dining Better

It feels like Dallas’ food media spent half the year talking about the introduction of the Michelin Guide to Texas. We spent the summer learning about what goes into the Guide’s choices, then shifted gears into making our own predictions about which places the Guide would include. The hype culminated in the Michelin announcements that we live blogged on November 11. We followed up with commentary about the surprises, the snubs and the inevitable controversies that come with any kind of list-making.

Here’s the biggest takeaway for Dallas’ dining public: the Michelin Guide will make Dallas dining better. We can discuss and debate until we’re blue in the face, but the Michelin Guide will be a part of Texas for two more years at minimum. Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio each committed $90,000 per year for three years to subsidize Michelin’s inspectors’ dining and reviewing. And the nature of this process, with inspectors shrouded in anonymity, means that Dallas restaurants will be trying harder than ever.

That’s a good thing for the dining public. Lauren Drewes Daniels spoke to Monarch’s chef Danny Grant about the impact of the Guide’s arrival, and he told us that restaurants push the boundaries of service, creativity and hospitality, all of which pay off for customers. I caught up with Dayne Weaver of Dayne’s Craft Barbecue around Labor Day, and he noted that, between the Michelin Guide and next year’s updated Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ list, he and his fellow pit masters have never been more focused on their art.

So join us in the commentary as much as you want about the Michelin winners and losers. But I think the Guide will only get better as their inspectors discover more of the area’s gems, and chefs hone their efforts to garner attention. We’re all going to get a better dining experience because of it.

Of Course, I’m Grateful For You!

One of the more salient points I read regarding the Michelin Guide’s initial list came from Observer alumnus Brian Reinhart in D Magazine. In his wrap-up, he opines that the Michelin inspectors ate their way through Texas like a tourist. They read the best-of lists from the media outlets, heard that Texas loves steak and barbecue and made their list accordingly. Alas, their tourist-like view passes over a lot of local flavors that make our city’s dining culture unique.

This is where the importance of local food media becomes important. Voices like Reinhart’s in D Magazine, Courtney Smith from Eater Dallas, Sarah Blaskovich and Claire Ballor from The Dallas Morning News and the talented team here at the Observer are key to shining a light on the local gems that make up our dining scene in ways that an out-of-towner just can’t touch.

I’ve had the chance to talk to many chefs, restaurant owners and readers this year, and by and large, most have expressed how grateful they are for our coverage (despite what the noisiest commenters on social media say). It’s a social-media-centric world we live in these days, and it feels like some well-followed TikToker or Instagrammer proclaims to “discover” Jimmy’s Food Store or Garden Cafe every week. Part of this makes me sad (especially when the “discovered” restaurant is flooded with business that they’re often unprepared to handle), but part of it makes me grateful to be a trusted food voice in this city.

Leslie Brenner’s run as food critic at the Morning News defined an era where her restaurant opinions could make or break an establishment, for better or worse. But Brenner left her role in 2017, and with the Morning News’ shift in food coverage to more openings and closings, they’ve not employed a food critic in over four years. Cities need critical food reviews, which makes Reinhart’s work at D Magazine and my reviews for the Observer more important than ever. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly, and after three years of being the Observer’s food critic, I still find myself grateful for the privilege.

In this season of giving thanks, I offer my heartfelt two full handfuls to all the chefs and restaurant owners who give me not-trivial amounts of their time for stories, to their publicists who help make our meetups come together and most importantly, to you, the readers of the Dallas Observer, whose clicks literally pay the bills and keep the lights on. We’ll continue to give you firsthand and independent reviews of as much of Dallas’ food scene as possible, because we realize just how important it is to share the truths of our city’s dining scene for the people who live here.

Now, pass me the turkey!