| CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Smoke’N Sister Local Ethiopian bar- becue restaurant and Sister get top nods from The New York Times. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS E ach year the editors and writers at The New York Times create The Restaurant List, a compila- tion of 50 places they’re “most excited about.” (They use the word “best” only in the URL, but nowhere in the title or article.) Last year the list in- cluded chef Tiffany Derry’s Roots Southern Table, which we applaud thoroughly. On Sept. 19 the Times released its new list. From the article: “We traveled widely and ate avidly as we built the annual list of our favorite restau- rants in America. From Oklahoma City to Juncos, Puerto Rico, to Orcas Island off the coast of Washington State, our food report- ers, editors and critics found revelatory Ethiopian barbecue, innovative Haitian cooking and possibly the most delicious fried pork sandwich in the United States.” This year’s list has two North Texas res- taurants. One is the family-run Ethiopian and barbecue restaurant in South Arlington, Smoke’N Ash. Waco-native Patrick Hicks and his wife, Fasika, from Addis Ababa, Ethi- opia, combine injera with brisket. As Eric Mayne wrote in a first look, standard smoke- house fare is served alongside classic Ethio- pian dishes like doro wot. Mac and cheese is infused with berbere sauce. Priya Krishna with The New York Times writes, “The vibrant Ethiopian flavors — brisket comes lacquered with awaze, a spicy sauce made with berbere — are an ideal match for barbecue.” The other North Texas restaurant so honored is Sister, which occupies the space on Greenville Avenue that used to be The Grape. Sister opened in 2021 and is from Duro Hospitality Group, which is also be- hind the swank The Charles, Bar Charles and the Italian-inspired Cafe Duro. In Chris Wolfgang’s review of Sister this summer, he noted a menu that hopscotches across both Mediterranean and Italian themes, offering a true casual neighborhood bistro with meals made with “passion and aplomb.” Krishna thinks likewise, calling Sister a worthy successor of The Grape. She cited ingredients that add a “funky depth” to dishes, like an eggplant dip “darkened in color and heightened in flavor by black ses- ame.” In other recent national nods to the North Texas culinary scene, Bon Appetit re- leased its 50 Best New Restaurants list just a couple of weeks ago. The publication’s editors and writers called out another obscure restaurant in North Texas, El Rincon del Maiz, housed in a former Sonic on Belt Line Road in Garland. The small, family-owned and -run restau- rant serves up from-scratch fare from Ta- basco, Mexico. The owners told the Observer they had no idea they were going to be featured in the magazine and actually thought a call requesting photos was a scam. Their menu includes a hefty amount of vegan fare, along with meat-filled tacos wrapped in colorful, house-made tortillas. La Onda in Fort Worth, which smokes fresh seafood straight off a boat in Hawaii, was also on Bon Appetit’s list. Chef Victor Villarreal and his wife Misty, who runs the bar and front of the house, said after being anointed they went from a decent amount of business this summer to being booked for weeks out in a matter of 48 hours. Tip o’ the hat to Canje in Austin for mak- ing the lists of both Bon Appetit and The New York Times. Two national publications have recently reminded us of the interesting culinary landscape that thrives in North Texas. It’s a great time to be hungry. ▼ FIRST LOOK A NEW SPOT IN PLANO IS TAKING A CREATIVE APPROACH TO PIZZA. BY ANISHA HOLLA PIZZA BY WAY OF BANGLADESH W hat seems like a weird spin on the old Mario Bros. video game is actually a Bangladesh-inspired pizza shop in Plano. Going by the name SauceBros, Bangladeshi friends and co- owners Redwan Huda, Zoheb Chowdhury and Labib Tarafdar are doing their best to “put Bangladeshi flavors on the map” in Dal- las. And their way of doing that is through their lifelong passion for pizza. “We were foodies first and then restau- rant owners,” Huda says. “We started out as three guys who really loved pizza. One day, we just decided to go for our passion.” The interior of Sister on Greenville Avenue. Alison McLean SauceBros opened in July, and Huda, Chowdhury and Tarafdar have been experi- menting with the menu ever since. For now, all 12 pizzas on the SauceBros menu are in- spired by flavors of Bangladesh in one way or the other. The menu may be small, but it’s powerful. Try the Garlic Ghee Mushroom Bianca pizza for some muted South Asian flavors. The New York-style pizza comes with a base of creamy white sauce made of blended al- fredo and mozzarella. The pie is topped gen- erously with mushrooms roasted in ghee, a type of clarified butter characteristic of Ban- gladeshi cooking. It tastes pretty much like your classic Italian white pizza. The subtle ghee flavoring just elevates the dish a little more. Another specialty here is the Spicy Naga Chicken pizza, made from a coriander-to- mato sauce infused with the Naga pepper, which is grown in parts of India and Bangla- desh and is known as one of the hottest chili peppers there is. The pizza is topped with chunks of chicken tossed in authentic Ban- gladeshi spices. A double chili sign next to the menu item warns customers of heat, but don’t let that deter you from ordering it for your family dinner. Through some skillful preparation, the co-owners, who double as chefs, are able to customize the spice as much — or as little —as you’d like. The Jhura Beef Pesto pizza brings a Ban- gladeshi twist to traditional basil pesto. In an effort to reflect the flavors of South Asia, the Bros make their pesto mostly from ground cilantro rather than basil. The SauceBros specialty comes topped with “Jhura” or shredded beef, marinated in rich Bangla- deshi spices. To say it’s an interesting combi- nation of flavors would be an understatement. But it’s a tasty one. Our only piece of advice: make sure you have a large party to share with when you stop by. With a price range of $14 to $27, SauceBros pizzas come only in large or ex- tra-large sizes. There’s no such thing as a light meal here. SauceBros, 3115 W. Parker Road, Plano, Noon – 10 p.m. Monday – Saturday; Noon – 9 p.m. Sunday. 12817 Preston Road, Suite 105 • 972-392-0190 indiapalacedallas.com INTRODUCE YOUR DALLAS FORK TO THE TASTE OF NY DELICATESSAN RESTAURANT & BAKERY 5 DFW LOCATIONS CINDISNYDELI.COM 115 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 5, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014
