16 March 9-15, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents you’re searching for good food and a full stomach, Vishnuji Ki Rasoi will satisfy your cravings. The restaurant specializes in vege- tarian food, and more specifically food from the Indian region of Maharashtra. The menu ventures far beyond your typical naan bread and curry, specializing in Maharash- trian specialties like fried gram flour cakes, fried potato vada and peanut-stuffed egg- plant. The $13.99-weekday buffet is popular with diners with a larger appetite. ▼ FIRST LOOK BEAT THAT FROM SEAFOOD BOILS TO SINFULLY INDULGENT CHICKEN AND WAFFLES, RESTAURANT BEATRICE IS STELLAR. BY ANGIE QUEBEDEAUX O pen for almost a year now, Restau- rant Beatrice is getting some much- deserved recognition. The establishment is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurants by the James Beard Foundation and was named Best New Restaurant in 2022 by Eater Dallas and D Magazine. Executive chefs Michelle Carpenter and Terance Jenkins, along with their teams, are creating some magical contemporary Cajun cuisine in North Oak Cliff. Carpen- ter, who was born to a Cajun father and a Japanese mother, named the restaurant af- ter her “Mammaw” (grandmother) Bea- trice. She has spent 35 years making and serving sushi, with more than 15 years as owner and executive chef at Zen Sushi in the heart of the Bishop Arts District. She always dreamed of opening a second res- taurant as a way to honor the other side of her heritage, and in May 2022 that dream became a reality when she opened Restau- rant Beatrice. Terance Jenkins, a native of New Or- leans, started his career making gumbo at the Commander’s Palace. Before settling in Oak Cliff, he was chef-owner of Bon Temps Events in Houston. In the Dallas area, he has led the kitchen at Amberjax, Screen Door and Cedars Social, and spent time at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Rex’s Seafood and Wolfgang Puck Catering. Restaurant Beatrice is in an old con- verted house, offering a more upscale dining experience indoors with a full-service bar and a more casual outdoor dining experi- ence on the large patio, site of authentic Ca- jun seafood boils on the weekends. The boil menu varies seasonally, but expect to see op- tions including shrimp, crawfish, snow crab and lobster. Inside, there are about a dozen tables and eight more seats at the bar. The décor has nice accents of navy and gold with fleur-de- lis wallpaper and gold chandeliers through- out. Outdoors are wooden tables with holes in the center for discarded seafood shells. The indoor menu changes frequently, but there’s a sample menu online. We visited twice during the day and both times selected from the brunch menu. On our first visit, we started with the Gumbo YaYa ($13/$16), which has chicken, shrimp, crawfish, blue crab and house andouille sausage. The mag- ical roux is dark, and the dish had generous portions of chicken, seafood and sausage. Be sure to go with the bowl here. For entrées, try Mammaw’s Fried Chicken and Waffles ($19) served with two pieces of perfectly seasoned, battered and fried dark meat topped with homemade pepper jelly and served on a buttery home- made waffle. The dish is spectacular, but what sends it over the edge is the praline syrup, which should probably be consid- ered a controlled substance. We can’t ade- quately articulate how sinfully indulgent this syrup is, especially when combined with the savory and crispy chicken. Just get it and thank us later. The Breakfast Beatrice ($18) is served with eggs your way, grilled andouille sau- sage, a house-made biscuit and house- made jam with potato cracklins. The savory andouille sausage has nice snap and a kick of spice that brings you back to the bayou. The biscuits are buttery and flaky. The potato cracklins are whole smashed double-fried potatoes with a crunchy veneer and soft, pillowy clouds of flavor inside. And you get your fair share of what Cajuns call “gris gris,” City of Ate from p14 Angie Quebedeaux The off-the-menu Shrimp po’boy with potato cracklins at Restaurant Beatrice. >> p18 ENTER TO WIN TWO TICKETS SCAN HERE TO WIN
