First Look: Cathedral Italian Bistro from Luke Rogers

Executive chef Luke Rogers has rebounded from the closing of Savor, the late restaurant at Klyde Warren Park that was a casualty of the pandemic, with his newest venture, Cathedral Italian Bistro in Plano. As reported in the Observer earlier this year prior to the opening, Rogers’ vision was of a combined steakhouse and Italian restaurant: “We're going to have a steakhouse vibe, mixed with Italian food, wagyu steaks and handmade pastas.”

Eager to try out new Italian restaurants and always on the lookout for another steakhouse to add to our rotation, we stopped in the other night for a first look at this relatively new entry on the North Texas food scene.

The cocktail menu has traditional favorites, such as a negroni or Manhattan, as well as some originals. We ordered a black cherry sour made with gin, lemon juice, black cherry syrup and cider, garnished with, of course, black cherries. Refreshing, crisp and photogenic. We also got a glass of pinot noir at a very reasonable $9 for a decent pour.
Our research had steered us to try the Italian egg roll appetizer, and our server recommended this as well, so like the lemmings we are we ordered it, along with some garlic knots. The quartet of egg rolls had a much larger circumference than we’d expected. The sausage was perhaps a bit blandly seasoned, but the little cup of tomato sauce was surprisingly good and boded well for the pasta entries.
The garlic knots came four to an order as well, soft and garlicky with a buttery sheen to them. They were dressed with parsley and presented with a wagyu tallow candle and a sprig of rosemary. Balsamic vinegar made for a wonderfully scrumptious dipping experience.
We contemplated ordering some meat, and could choose from a 16-ounce Rosewood wagyu New York strip, a veal rib chop, a pork chop and filet mignon, as well as a couple of larger dry-aged cuts to share. In the end, we decided on a couple of pasta dishes instead.
The bucatini cacio e pepe ($17) was Cathedral’s take on the classic Roman dish, but using bucatini instead of spaghetti, of course, as well as grana Padano cheese in place of the pecorino Romano. It was good, if a bit over-sauced. We question why it was still called cacio e pepe with so many changes being made to the classic, simple recipe. Of course, the chef wants to make it his own, but perhaps some things should not be tinkered with.

The rigatoni and wagyu Bolognese ($25) was prepared with Calabrian chili, charred peppers, mint, preserved lemon and mascarpone. It was rich and complex, and we appreciated the attempt, even if the mint was, perhaps, a bit overpowering. Was the pasta really rigatoni, though? The length-to-diameter ratio was all off; rigatoni should not be that long, but maybe complaints of geometry are going too far. A pasta by any other name can still be good.
For dessert, we went with the hazelnut quattro leche, because a mere tres leches is so last year. It was a pretty little plate with candied hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds. That extra leche must have done the trick.
Cathedral also offers pizzas, including a prosciutto white pie and jalapeño Hawaiian, along with a bunch of sides typical of a steakhouse such as truffle fries and lobster mac and cheese. These would have to wait for another night; we had quattro leches to work off, after all.

8103 Rasor Blvd., No. 110, Plano; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Monday – Friday; 11 a.m. – midnight, Saturday; closed Sunday.