17 September 7 - 13, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Seat at the Butcher’s Table A boutique meat mar- ket and fine-dining res- taurant worth a trek to Allen. BY BRADY COLE T he Salty Butcher is hard to no- tice in the sometimes chaotic atmosphere of The Hub in Al- len. It’s tucked away in a back corner to the left of the giant stage, hoping to inspire some curiosity with its unusual name. Those who do wander over are greeted with quite a unique shop- ping and dining experience. Inside the front door is a small counter to order to-go sandwiches for one of the many picnic tables in the main area of The Hub. Don’t stop there; go inside and really check it out. The next attraction inside is an actual butcher counter with a fairly large selection of seafood, sausage and a high-end selection of cut-to-order beef and steaks. The selec- tion varies weekly and the butcher is happy to special order just about anything. There’s also a wine selection available by the bottle at grocery store prices. Nestled next to the wines are two communal dine-in tables where you can order off a small but mighty menu. There is also a long bar in the back with about a dozen seats for dining and drinking. The menu has a few salads, like the creamy lemon rosemary chicken salad ($15) and a few different sandwiches including The Salty Butcher cheesesteak ($18) with shaved prime rib and a Scotch bonnet pep- per relish. Seasoned visitors looking for a unique date night can buy a bottle of wine and drink it at the bar to accompany a weekly rotating charcuterie board. As for the menu, chef Stephen Bucalo is the mastermind behind The Salty Butcher, a concept he started along the 30A strip in Florida at the original The Hub develop- ment. A second restaurant was added when The Hub expanded to Allen. His dishes can also be sampled at two other restaurants in The Hub: Macho Taco and Hooked. Chef Bucalo spends most of his week- ends here in Texas, although he still lives in Florida. He offers a four-course prix fixe menu, or as he likes to call it “a sampling menu,” on Friday and Saturday nights. “This is what I love to do. We take what- ever is fresh and in stock each week and try to present it in a simple but unique way so everyone can get a taste,” Bucalo says. The plates are small and simple, using only three or four ingredients per dish, and each dish is accompanied by a wine selection that is also sold on-site. The sampling menu is what brought us out to visit, and it lived up to the expectations. The menu changes weekly and can be found on social media by Wednesday each week. Seatings are at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and are limited to about 20 peo- ple. Reservations can fill up quickly so waiting until the last minute may end in disappointment; call 972-678-1002 to get your table. Our first course was shishito peppers stuffed with chorizo, accompanied by a light queso blanco. The plate was small but full of flavor and uniquely presented. Course two was spaghetti carbonara with a poblano cream sauce topped with shaved guanciale (think prosciutto crossed with ba- con) and a poached quail egg. Chef called it bacon and eggs spaghetti, which definitely sums up its appearance. The ingredients blended together expertly, especially after we poked that quail yolk and mixed it with the cream sauce. Next was smoked and braised red chili short rib swimming in jus. The rib had been smoked all day and was fall-off-the-bone tender with a great char on the outside with a well-balanced mix of fat and meat. For dessert, we had a simple but excel- lent tres leches cake topped with fresh strawberries. The intimate setting for this small seating was greatly enhanced by the presence of Bu- calo and his director of operations, chef Aus- tin Sherrod. They were there to meet everyone, pour wine and talk at length about where they sourced the food, how it’s pre- pared and the concept for each course. Also unique to this experience, almost every ingredient used for dinner is available for sale, so you can try to re-create dishes at home if you’re so inspired. The chefs are happy to share recipes and offer other ad- venturous ideas. Make the trip to Allen for one of these dinners: it’s a must-try. You might have to navigate a kiddie dance party on the lawn, or a bunch of 40-somethings (OK, 50-some- things) reliving their youth rocking out to an ‘80s cover band, but once inside The Salty Butcher, all of that is blocked out and the ad- venture begins. The Salty Butcher, 1289 Johnson Road (The Hub), Allen. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. ▼ FIRST LOOK SOCIALLY THIRSTY? THE KATY TRAIL HAS A NEW TENANT WITH A NOTABLE HAPPY HOUR. BY NICK REYNOLDS A nother jewel from the Harwood Hospitality Group has opened, and the early returns are promising. Tequila Social, on the Katy Trail, serves Tex-Mex classics and a host of margaritas, ranch waters and cocktails. Tequila Social’s expansive patio (seating 200) is the main at- traction. And when North Texas’ hellish temps finally begin to subside to tolerable levels, we imagine this patio being crammed, especially during happy hour (Monday – Friday, 3–6 p.m.). It’s located in the McKinnon Building (3100 McKinnon St.) in the Harwood Dis- trict, where signs for Tequila Social will guide you into the parking garage and to the restaurant entrance. The indoor dining room has a full bar, and beyond the dining room and bar lies what has the potential to be one of Dallas’ better patios. The bench- lined outdoor space stretches seemingly endlessly, and with its front-row view of the Katy Trail, hit’s perfect for people-watching (if that’s your thing). But the day we visited, it was a diabolical 108 degrees outside. Even an arsenal of fans and misters going full force wasn’t enough to tempt us to sit on the patio. No thanks. In the future, though? Definitely. Happy hour here is a steal. We started with a spicy margarita ($6), which was nice and strong and had a bite to it. Speaking of bites, our first app ordered off the happy hour “bites” menu was the queso fundido ($6): pan-fried catina cheese, blended and then topped with pico and served with warm flour tortillas. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Brady Cole The Salty Butcher is a boutique butcher with space for about 20 diners on certain nights. >> p18 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH
