dulgence — or following some bit of intuition — we skipped appetizers and focused on a simple French countryside meal, quite literally meat, potatoes and vegetables. And a burger. A basket of bread and whipped butter was brought to our table, and we didn’t pro- test. Their French baguette is art. A server said it’s made in-house, sort of, by way of one of their sister restaurants either Georgie or Le Bilboquet. He wasn’t sure which. Didn’t matter. It and the butter were perfect. We started with one of the few dishes un- der $30 (there is a separate lunch munch with a lower overall price point). The raie au beurre noisette (skate wing with brown but- ter) is a mild-flavored fish served with a lemon brown butter sauce, speckled with capers. Each tender bite was a delight. Potato cubes served with the skate were City of Ate from p12 Lucky’s opened its first location on Gas- ton Lane in East Dallas in September 2020. One new location has already opened at 3016 Forest Lane in Dallas (the Webb Cha- pel area), complete with a drive-thru, which is a first for Lucky’s. The second location will open in Richardson at 1545 East Belt Line Road (near North MacArthur Boule- vard) later this summer and will also have a drive-thru. Finally, a third space will open in Oak Lawn on Lemmon Avenue where Einstein’s Brothers Bagels used to be but will be dine- in only. There are also future plans for them to open two more locations in Pleasant Grove and Grand Prairie. Vandelay Hospitality Group has been es- tablishing restaurants since 2012 and devel- oping concepts to showcase American culture through ambiance and cuisine. Along with Lucky’s, they have opened up several other neighborhood-style restau- rants including East Hampton Sandwich Co., The Anchor Bar and Brentwood. There’s also Hudson House and Drake’s Hollywood, which both have locations in California. Each Lucky’s location has décor that fits a retro theme with red and white checkered floors, ‘60s-style aluminum countertops and neon signs. Lucky’s offers four spice levels for their chicken sandwiches and tenders, including No Heat, Feelin’ Lucky, Damn Lucky and Best of Luck for the risk-takers. Their menu staples include the Big Lou Chicken Sand- wich and the slider combo, which comes with one tender and one slider with pickles and slaw. Their sides include mac n’ cheese and Howlin’ fries, which are tossed in a spice blend. Customers can also get the Family Fare option if they want Lucky’s for a gathering or party. This includes packages for four to six people, big platters of chicken tenders, a choice of sides, a 16-ounce container of any sauce and a gallon of lemonade or iced tea. All locations will be open from 11 a.m. - 11 14 14 p.m. Follow @LuckysHotChicken on Insta- gram and Facebook and sign up for updates at luckyshotchicken.com. Knox Bistro’s The French burger. Lauren Drewes Daniels ▼ FIRST LOOK FRENCH BURGER DIPLOMACY E crisp and dark golden brown on the outside and a perfectly light chew in the middle and were mixed with a lemony al dente kale. This plate should be eaten with a touch of greed. Forgoing heavy (or any) apps was the right call. Speaking of greed, we tried to order the KNOX BISTRO IS A LOIRE VALLEY GEM PLOPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF DALLAS.BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS arlier this year, this space formerly known as Up on Knox got a reboot by French chef Bruno Davaillon, who is one of two Dallas chefs whose resume in- cludes a Michelin star, which he earned at Alain Ducasse’s Mix in Las Vegas. He moved to Dallas in 2009 to helm the kitchen at the lauded Rosewood Mansion for six years, and then opened Bullion in 2017, which closed during the pandemic. In this latest venture, Davaillon part- nered with Stephan Courseau and Travis Street Hospitality as the executive chef at Up On Knox, which he repurposed into Knox Bistro. He’s now the chef partner for all concepts from the Travis Street hospital- ity group, which includes Le Bilboquet and Georgie by Curtis Stone. With Knox Bistro, Davaillon sought to cre- ate a French bistro with a menu inspired by his roots in France’s Loire Valley, which is primarily countryside south of Paris known for fantastic wines. So, here one could expect traditional French countryside recipes with seasonal vegetables and great wine. Perhaps less fussy than, say, a big Parisian brasserie. With Davaillon in the chef partner role, Josh Sutcliff is the executive chef at Knox Bistro. He was chef de cuisine at FT33 and ran the kitchen at Filament and Mirador. We stopped in for an early dinner on a re- cent Saturday, snagging a parking space just out front. We didn’t have reservations, and getting a table at 6 p.m. wasn’t a problem, al- though it was almost full by the time we left. The interior is bright and airy. Warm globe lights and wicker backed-chairs im- part some old-world charm. Many many servers flutter around, all keeping an eye on every table, quick to grab a dropped fork, re- fill water or offer to take a picture if you’re spotted taking so many pictures. Bucking the American tradition of overin- Up on Knox Burger as it was the one hold- over from the old menu. However, with a touch of classic French cheekiness, our server casually pointed to the burger below that one: Le Burger au Poivre, which is sim- ply described as “The French.” He basically said, “Non, you’ll get that.” And we did. A thick beef patty cooked to a medium-rare was blessed in creamy peppercorn sauce full of caramelized onions. A puddle of opulence forms around the burger. We can’t imagine anyone picking it up to eat with their hands. Cut it in half, then dig in with a knife and fork. Use chunks of the bread as a squeegee across the plate to get every spec of sauce. Oof. Many plates of this burger, which was $22 and one of the cheapest dinners on the menu, were passing through the dining room. The burger may be the safe place on the menu. We appreciated the suggestion, and likely many other diners did too. Can’t imagine one not. The burger comes with a side of thin slightly salted, perfect fries. If they sell the sauce separately, next time we’d get more just for the fries. And a gallon to take home. For dessert, we had the trending espresso martini, inscribed with a ground coffee mes- sage on the top, “Hello Weekend,” a rich ending to a rich meal. We didn’t try wine and wish we would have. A sweet and spicy margarita-like cocktail wasn’t the right match for this meal; it wasn’t bad, and was made as described, but likely not something they’re serving in the Loire Valley. Here you’ll want to dive into the full experi- ence. Like they say, when in the valley .... (we’re almost certain they say that there). We left spending about $100 for two din- ners and four drinks. In addition to the burg- ers, we noticed a lot of plates of skate wing were doled out as well; it too was one of the cheaper options at $26. One can’t help but think that diners want a nice meal, of course, but are also worried about prices. Restau- rants certainly are as well. It’s a beautiful meal in a lovely space and a lot cheaper than a trip overseas. Knox Bistro, 3230 Knox St., 11 a.m to 9 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday - Thurs- day; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday ▼ FRIED FANTASIES FRYING HIGH W DEEP-FRIED BRISKET CHEESE STICKS AND MORE GOOD NEWS FROM THE STATE FAIR. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS ho’s ready to down some corny dogs and funnel cakes? The State Fair of Texas lives for just one month, but it’s almost a year-round opera- tion. For months vendors have been testing recipes and proper frying temperatures in an attempt to land a highly coveted Big Tex Choice award, which literally puts them on the map at the State Fair. Fair vendors and judges are well into pre- season form. The first round of judging is complete, which included 51 entries from 36 different concessionaires. To enter, the ven- dor needed to have at least one year of expe- rience at the fair as a concessionaire. Interestingly, for this first round vendors only submit the name of their fried food cre- ation along with a description and photo. Judges base their choices solely on that. So, if you had a dream of tasting 51 different fried foods, no, you won’t be able to find that job on ZipRecruiter. The entries were whittled down to 36 semifinalists, which were announced July 6. Over the next few weeks, the prelims will begin, and at that time the judges will sam- ple each entry and rank them based on uniqueness, presentation, creativity and taste. No, burning the holy hell out of the roof of their mouth doesn’t cost a deduction. These are professionals. Per the judges’ manual, one main ques- tion drives the rankings: How likely is a fair- goer to buy the item? The finalists will be announced in August and the top 10 entries will compete in the fi- nal round at a fancy ceremony closer to showtime at the fair. You can see all 36 semi-finalists’ foods online, but below are the six winners we’re putting our money on, three each from both the savory and sweet categories, based on descriptions only. Unfortunately, the photos aren’t available. Visualize. Savory Deep-Fried Brisket Cheese Sticks Why haven’t we had these already? It makes us excited and angry at the same time. If we were in a casino and there was a spot for these on the roulette table, we’d put all seven of our chips on it. Here they’ll use mozzarella and “dress it” with chopped brisket then dip it in an egg wash, dredge through secret fam- ily recipe breading and fry it up. A dusting of Parmesan finishes it off, and it’s served with a side of a smoked marinara dipping sauce. Fried Charcuterie Board Oh my, the distance charcuterie boards have come. At the fair, you can get meat, cheese and fruit all stuffed together in a wonton wrapper, deep-fried and topped with a dol- lop of goat cheese along with a drizzle of hot honey for a charcuterie bite. Bayou Bowl The bayou bowl has a three-cheese maca- roni base with both shrimp and crab meat cooked in a garlic scampi butter, topped with a Cajun cream sauce along and a slice MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 JULY 21–27, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
