Update: Sabra Girard, a spokesperson for this event, let me know the comment in this post is not correct. While Saturday is sold out, Friday's event still has 10 seats available. Call 214-679-0999 to make a reservation.
Since closing York Street in the late fall of 2010, Sharon Hage has been working as a consultant for various projects, all of which she declined discuss with City of Ate. Then, last week, she appeared at Bolsa Mercado, which featured her cooking in one of its evening dinners for two.
Now news of another project has been released. Hage will host two underground dinners at Deep Ellum's My Private Chef Showroom, the space that has previously hosted underground dinners cooked by David Temple and Nicole Gossling.
I was temporarily excited. Could two back-to-back appearances, cooking for the public, indicate a chef who misses running her own kitchen? Could Hage be preparing to work in a restaurant again? Hage admitted that she missed the camaraderie she shared with her employees at York Street, but stymied my hopes of a new restaurant quickly. She said she has no plans to return at this time
That means the Deep Ellum pop-up might be one of the few opportunities Dallas diners get to experience Hage's cooking, which focuses on sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients.
I asked Hage how she excelled at a style of cooking other chefs in Dallas often fail at.
"That's just how I learned to cook," she told me describing her time in New York City under Arizona 206 chef Brendan Walsh. Hage was in charge of produce ordering, and choosing local, fresh, seasonal ingredients over lesser options made sense for the restaurant.
"It's not an intellectual decision, it's an obvious choice," she said. More Dallas restaurants should see things this clearly, but that likely won't happen until their diners encourage them to do so.
Seatings are February 24 and 25 and cost $125 per person. You can sign up for Hage's underground dinner here.
