100 Favorite Dishes, No. 44: Smoked Trout with Lardo at FT33

Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2016 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year. At FT33, Matt McCallister's intimate and playful Design District fine dining spot, you're not always sure what you're...

By Beth Rankin

July 31, 2016

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Leading up to September's Best of Dallas® 2016 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year.

At FT33, Matt McCallister's intimate and playful Design District fine dining spot, you're not always sure what you're ordering. Dishes are listed by ingredients, rather than by name of the finished product ("Chocolate, cherry, chai, coconut"), but excellent service means servers are more than equipped to explain.

The menu is constantly in flux but on a recent visit, there was magic to be found, particularly in a $19 first course dish that managed to be rich yet perfect for a summer meal. Smoked trout, potato, horseradish, dill and crema were laid out on the plate, all of it topped with a fine translucent sheen that can only mean one thing: lardo. We have yet to meet a dish that hasn't been improved by a thin layer of cured fat, and this glorious warm weather dish — the butteriness of the smoked trout taking center stage — was no exception.

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Beth Rankin is an Ohio native and Cicerone-certified beer server who specializes in social media, food and drink, travel and news reporting. Her belief system revolves around the significance of Topo Chico, the refusal to eat crawfish out of season and the importance of local and regional foodways.

Contact: Beth Rankin

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