| CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Flatrock Joins The Colony Perfect smoked brisket finds a new home. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG R obert Davis didn’t intend to bring tasty barbecue to The Col- ony, but it’s a move that seems to be working. Davis and his wife, Kimberly, own Flatrock Smoke- house, which got its start in Euless with a brick-and-mortar restaurant in January 2020. As with so many others, running a restaurant during the pandemic was a challenge. The Davises ended up shuttering the Eu- less location, and their landlord sold the build- ing. But just as some proverbial doors open when others close, Flatrock Smokehouse found a new home in 2021 on Main Street in The Colony, just north of State Highway 121. “We live in Frisco, so we were driving past this every day going to Euless,” Davis says. Challenges have never scared Davis, an Army veteran who left the corporate world to pursue his dreams of cooking barbecue. Flatrock Smokehouse has built a healthy fan base willing to travel for the food no matter where the couple sets up shop. We popped into Flatrock Smokehouse on a recent Friday after the lunch rush with a healthy appetite in tow, and found some de- lightful barbecue that more than satiated our hunger pangs. Flatrock Smokehouse runs a large A.N. Bewley smoker just off the patio that turns out a plethora of smoked proteins. We ordered a quarter pound each of lean prime brisket ($7.25), pulled pork ($4.50) and sausage ($4.50), then added a side of brisket mac-n-cheese ($3.50) and fried okra ($2.50). Chris Wolfgang We grabbed a table in Flatrock’s dining room right next to the patio door, catching whiffs of smoke from the smokehouse each time it opened. This already had our taste buds working overtime, and when our food arrived we realized we might have over-ordered. Flatrock’s brisket comes sliced in text- book pencil-width chunks, and the crusty outer layer has plenty of smoky flavor that complements the moist beef within. The pulled pork was another excellent choice, lightly sauced and full of juicy and tender goodness. Flatrock’s sausage was perhaps the weakest meat of the three we tried, but that’s like saying Placido Domingo is your least favorite of the Three Tenors. Davis also smokes chicken, turkey and ribs on-site, and tells us he’s most proud of his ribs. We’ll know the next time we come in to add a slab to our order, waistlines be damned. We also found lots of joy in the gooey bris- ket mac and cheese, and Flatrock’s tangy bar- becue sauce that is drizzled on top makes for a tasty bonus. And for $2.50, the okra might be the barbecue side value of the year just on quantity alone. Each bite is smartly fried and crispy, without the sliminess or greasiness that sometimes comes from overcooked okra. Davis tells us he’s considering a “loaded okra” topped with cheese and some of his barbe- cued meats — an idea we’re on board with. While we ate, two different staffers from the counter came by to check on us and Flatrock Smokehouse BBQ’s lean prime brisket, pulled pork and sausage, brisket mac-n-cheese and fried okra. make sure we had everything we needed for a solid meal. Kimberly Davis stopped by as well, only to joke that she already saw two of her team check in and she didn’t want to bother us any further. But that kind of atten- tion to service only serves to separate Flat- rock Smokehouse from the crowd and is something we will always appreciate. The tasty barbecue on top of a welcoming atmo- sphere means that you’ll find us back at Flat- rock sooner rather than later. Flatrock Smokehouse BBQ, 4900 Main Street, The Colony. Friday noon – 8 p.m., Sat- urday 11 a.m – 8 p.m., Sunday noon – 6 p.m. or until sold out. ▼ FIRST LOOK SEEING STARS M MISTER O1 BRINGS A NEW STYLE OF PIZZA TO DALLAS. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS ister O1 Pizza recently opened in the Turtle Creek Village shopping center, in a corner spot across from Jalisco. This pizzeria is originally from Miami, by way of master pizza chef Renato Viola, who was raised in southern Italy and started learning the ways of mak- ing pizza at age 11. He moved to Miami un- der the O1 visa category for his “extraordinary artistic ability.” Hence the name of his pizza restaurants. We arrived on a Sunday evening at this ca- sual, upscale spot. A simple but pretty dining room is full of light wood. On approach, it ap- pears to be a fast-casual spot, yet once settled in you’ll find the table service leans toward fine dining. Plates and cutlery smudged with remnants of your salad are whisked away and replaced with clean ones for the next dish. Your water carafe will always be chilled and full. And a manager will likely stop by a cou- ple of times to back up the server. We ordered two Peronis and decided on a Cesar salad ($9.99) to start. The sal- ads are served in large bowls with tongs and bear an aggressive amount of Parme- san shavings. One bowl is enough for about four people. The salad had just a drizzle of dressing across the top. We weren’t sure if O1s prefer barely dressed Caesar or if they forgot to dress it or what. Either way, we asked for and quickly re- ceived additional dressing. We got an order of the burrata with an Ital- ian balsamic glaze and arugula that came with a side of thin, fresh-baked focaccia bread. This bread might have been the meal highlight (it was a close second, we’ll get to number one in a minute). Large, warm pieces of crisp bread were served in a brown paper bag with a sprig of rosemary. We wanted to hold the bag close to our chest like a child cuddling a puppy — a child who didn’t really understand why they have to share. The focaccia was simply dressed with sea salt and was amazing. Mister O1 sources its burrata from a spot in Miami, which a manager said the kitchen sticks with because the staff has yet to find another source that compares. We happen to like Cane Rosso’s house- made burrata as much, if not more (if only they’d put the bing cherries back in the recipe, a-hem). Then, the star of the show is literally a star. Mister Oh-one’s unique take on the ubiquitous pizza is pinching the crust prior to baking so that it forms a cozy nook for cheese. And, actually, this is a “take” we oohed over. We ordered the Star Beckham ($17.99) with ricotta, mozzarella, bacon, red onions and fresh tomatoes. The ricotta was stuffed a bit under the pinches of dough, creating a wonderful little cove of warm cheese. The star gets a star. >> p18 17 17 dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUT |ZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 NOVEMBER 3–9, 2022
