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Dave Faries

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The Search for an English Pub in North Texas is Over. We've Found the Holy Grail.

By Dave Faries
Feb 4, 2010

Just what makes a pub a "pub"? If we're speaking of an English place, it should serve fish and chips. Most of them list a number of beers and perhaps a few interesting whiskeys. A long wooden bar says "pub," as do library shelves, wooden beams and a decorated mirror...
India West Is Really Just An Upscale DNA Copy of Its Sister Restaurant, Kebab N Kurry.

By Dave Faries
Jan 28, 2010

There are two possible reasons why India West's dining room was so sparsely populated the evening of my final visit. One involves the presence of a Russian businessman speaking in ponderous, but voluminous tones to three young patrons of Indian descent. On the phone—which he used several times, once even...
The Mansion's New Chef Bruno Davaillon Is Breaking Into The Job Slowly, But It Seems Just A Matter Of Time Before His Celebrity Shines.

By Dave Faries
Jan 21, 2010

In the absence of Michelin stars, The Mansion on Turtle Creek serves as Dallas' culinary measuring stick. The priciest restaurants are described as "more expensive than The Mansion." When other kitchens list tortilla soup on their menus, people ask: "Is it as good as The Mansion's?" And when people recount...
The Salvadorian Restaurant, Mario Sabino's, Suffers From An Identity Crisis, Lost Between The Sameness Of A Local Chain and The Authenticity of a Mom-And-Pop Shop.

By Dave Faries
Jan 14, 2010

A couple years ago I sat in some fancy French restaurant watching two servers wheel a polished brass cart to my table. One of them fussed about a copper chafing dish for a moment then began to splash Grand Marnier over the delicate, sugarcoated pancakes within it. Flambé presentations build...
Grace is Worth the Weight

By Dave Faries
Jan 7, 2010

Some people insist a diet of fatty foods not only rounds out the waistline, it also invites a series of almost certain future ills. If they're right, then Blaine Staniford must want to kill us—although with his arsenal of bacon, butter, cream and slabs of richly marbled red meat, ours...
This Decade Saw Dallas Evolve Into A Major Player On The National Dining Scene

By Dave Faries
Dec 31, 2009

Back in the spring of 2001, I sat with a group of friends in the dining room of Cuba Libra. Just about a year ago, I found myself at almost the same table, looking at a space less crowded but otherwise barely altered. Sometimes it seems nothing much has changed...
Jorge's Tex-Mex reaches for the ordinary and beyond in its upscale digs.

By Dave Faries
Dec 24, 2009

Tex-Mex establishments usually thrive on the come-as-you-are crowd, drawing from a vast array of jeans and ball caps and, long about brunch on Sunday, ashen faces desperately in need of warmed chips. But there's a strange vibe at Jorge's Tex-Mex on opera nights. As I waited near the bar for...
Stephan Pyles is Back in Fine Form -- Again -- With Samar

By Dave Faries
Dec 17, 2009

A friend tells me that when she dined at Samar, the waiter was forced to reach around and serve wine from the wrong side—an act for which he apologized in advance. For those who aren't quite sure what I'm talking about, in formal settings waitstaff are supposed to approach each...
Urban Crust: Great Pizza. Great Bar. What More Do You Want?

By Dave Faries
Dec 10, 2009

"Where do you want to sit?" the waitress asks as I step inside Urban Crust. It hardly matters, so I shrug in response. The waitress—her name was Lauren, according to my receipt—looks over the space, a long, narrow room cluttered with tables and booths, bounded by rough brick walls, with...
Hacienda On Henderson Has a Small Window And a Great Patio To Get Things Right

By Dave Faries
Dec 3, 2009

The people of Dallas love a good patio. But until places such as Dragonfly and Fearing's began sculpting refined enclosures and The Londoner found a location set back from the road, most outdoor spaces butted up against parking lots or busy streets. As a result, some of the most popular...
Craft, Despite the Economy, Just Keeps Plugging Along With its Simple Style of Minimalist Elegance.

By Dave Faries
Nov 26, 2009

Craft is the Forrest Gump of Dallas restaurants. Not that the sophisticated space on the W Hotel's ground floor is in any way slow or befuddled by events, just undeterred by economic reality over the past few years, moving steadily through the chaos as if with blinders on. Think of...
Uptown’s Geisha House Offers An On-Again, Off-Again Japanese Dining Experience. Try Going When It’s On-Again.

By Dave Faries
Nov 19, 2009

Like so many Asian restaurants, Geisha House sets its tables with disposable wooden chopsticks, the kind you break apart before using. The things are everywhere, so it's hardly a confusing concept. Yet during my first visit to the vast new sushi/teppan spot on Cedar Springs, I overheard a stylish young...
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Nose, Hair and Mouth--And That's A Good Thing

By Dave Faries
Nov 14, 2009

Smoke is—and isn't—what you think it is. There's barbecue all right, just as the name implies: brisket, ribs, even pulled pork. Chef Tim Byres spent the better part of this summer on the road in a rebuilt VW bus. He clattered around the Mississippi delta, over the hills of Tennessee...
Chef Tre Wilcox, of Bravo and Food Network Fame, Wants to Make a Celebrity of his Restaurant, LOFT 610

By Dave Faries
Nov 6, 2009

Tre Wilcox shrugs off the name recognition gained through appearances on some of television's most popular cooking shows. "My window has passed," he insists. "I don't say 'I'm Tre from Top Chef'—I'm just here at Loft 610." But the waitstaff is almost giddy over the restaurant's new hire. Before launching...
Smokin' at C.T.'s Real Deal BBQ

By Dave Faries
Oct 29, 2009

Even over the phone, you can feel Corey Toney's smile when he talks about his South Dallas barbecue joint, C.T.'s Real Deal BBQ. "There's a brick pit back there," he says. "When that hickory gets in the pit, it just seasons the brick—you can really taste it." He's right, but...
York Street Gets It Right by Doing Everything Wrong

By Dave Faries
Oct 22, 2009

Sharon Hage went about everything the wrong way when she opened York Street way back in May 2001. Not only was she among the first to tie her menu to the vagaries of seasonal, often local, organically grown ingredients, the chef also violated all the rules of small business success...
In a City of Gaudy Prime Beef Palaces, Dragonfly Has No Problem Laying Claim to "Best Steaks in Dallas."

By Dave Faries
Oct 15, 2009

Batman is suspended over the ocean waves with a shark clinging to his leg. Beating the beast on its nose fails to knock the 6-foot monster loose, so the Caped Crusader takes a desperate, last-gasp course of action. "Quick, Robin," he yells up to the Boy Wonder, strapping himself safely...
Good Pizza Makes Good Neighbors at Urbino on Henderson.

By Dave Faries
Oct 10, 2009

When David Pedack fires up his rickety ZAP car—a three-wheeled all-electric bug assembled in Hong Kong—and clatters down the street on a pizza delivery run, it may be the only time he feels real solitude. The pressure of opening Urbino Pizza e Pasta, his second restaurant, eases just a bit...
Tea Thyme & Tisane offers a taste of ’70s small-town Texas--and a big helping of 2009 Internet promotion

By Dave Faries
Oct 2, 2009

As a kid, my parents subjected our family to a couple different themed meals on a regular basis. One was Dad's weekly catfish and hushpuppies fry-fest. Others involved dinners at which Mom stretched a pound of meat to serve the entire table. Until my early 20s, I firmly believed you...
Ah, Espana

By Dave Faries
Sep 24, 2009

There's a boundary, a set of criteria, something that delineates those who like appetizers from those who quiver at the mention of tapas. Wish I could put my finger on it—though judging from the number of times I heard "Oooh, I love tapas" from women in professional income brackets, I'd...
Numero Eno’s

By Dave Faries
Sep 17, 2009

For some reason I can't get over the root beer float at Eno's. I know it's not a difficult thing to make—unless, of course, you follow my old method of plunging ice cream into a mug of root beer and watching it fizz and boil over the rim. I know...
A lush patio makes the drive to the iffy neighborhood of Carolina’s Mexican Cuisine’s worth it. And so does the food.

By Dave Faries
Sep 10, 2009

There we were, sipping drinks on a lush patio behind some sketchy 7-Eleven when a sudden, sharp spurt of maniacal laughter interrupted our spell. Just another Saturday night in the 'hood, except in this case, the setting was a well-worn patch of far North Dallas and the commotion began when...