12 December 7 - 13, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Top Pick: Barsotti’s from-scratch Sunday gravy, served on a bed of al dente creste pasta, is exquisite. If you don’t get enough — or lie awake at night thinking about it — Bar- sotti’s will sell you a container of sauce to go. Beckley 1115 1115 N. Beckley Ave. Beckley 1115 opened in January 2022 under the guidance of chef and restaurateur Sharon Van Meter, and in 2023 husband-and-wife duo Luke and Geni Rogers bought the restau- rant. While Luke works the kitchen, Geni runs the front of the house and has curated a polished wine list of affordable options by the glass or bottle. The menu is dotted with American bistro favorites: shrimp, steaks and house-made pastas dominate the entrees. Ap- petizers sparkle, like a generous charcuterie board or delicate octopus carpaccio. In just a short time, the Rogers have turned Beckley 1115 into the neighborhood secret worthy of everyone’s attention. Top Pick: Order the Butcher’s Cut of the Day, which varies but is always executed with skill. A melting beef tallow candle in the cen- ter of the cut bastes the beef as you eat. CheapSteaks 2613 Elm St. There’s a long list of new, glitzy restaurants in Deep Ellum. CheapSteaks is not one of these. Here you’ll get honest food and strong drinks at a fair price, a reflection of the original neighborhood’s gritty character. True to its name, CheapSteaks offers up a trio of beef cuts that punch above their weight class. Light and crispy truffle french fries are the default side choice, but flavorful Brussels sprouts or a baked potato can be subbed for a couple of bucks more. And every night of the week, CheapSteaks hosts live music that helps burnish its Deep Ellum bona fides. Top Pick: The hanger steak is particularly delicious, especially when ordered with no more than a medium finish. It’s a poor man’s filet of tenderness and flavor, and it is baffling to us that more restaurants don’t offer the cut. El Carlos Elegante 1400 N. Riverfront Blvd. From the Dallas-based group Duro Hospi- tality, think of El Carlos Elegante as The Charles’ Mexican cousin. The restaurant is nondescript outside, but inside is a vibrant and lively space, serving authentic Mexican and South American fare with an upscale polish. The best of El Carlos’ dishes center on anything made with house-made masa; the mushroom tetelas or chorizo molotes are brilliant examples. A visit to El Carlos Elegante borders on “special occasion” spending, but the brilliant dishes are worth the price of admission. Top Pick: Al pastor pork is grilled to perfec- tion and sized to share. Each succulent bite could star on its own, but is accompanied by a rich adobo sauce and a pineapple butter that we never knew was missing from our lives. Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley 1933 Elm St. The menu at Kitchen + Kocktails is packed with comfort food staples like Southern-fried catfish, shrimp and grits, and crispy fried green tomatoes. But don’t sleep on the lamb chops here, or the blackened-shrimp-topped deviled eggs, both of which are on a budget- friendly happy hour menu. There’s also an im- pressive cocktail game: Try the smooth — and powerful — D’usse, a frozen peach concoction topped with a healthy dose of D’usse Cognac. On the weekends they run a clinic: How to Brunch. Pull out those nice heels you’d been saving, make reservations and buckle up. Top Pick: The oxtail here is epic. The sea- soning is on point but more important the meat slides right off the bone with a gentle tug of a fork. Quarter Acre 2023 Greenville Ave. Toby Archibald says restaurants like his Quarter Acre are plentiful in his native New Zealand, but this year-old spot on Greenville Avenue in the former Rapscallion space is at the vanguard of some of Dallas’ most cre- ative cooking. On its face, the cuisine may come off as pretentious, but a closer look re- veals a playful sense of whimsy. There are small one-hitter bites that offer inexpensive tastes of Quarter Acre’s imaginative spirit. Appetizers and entrees are updated often as ingredients move in and out of season, but the impressive short rib or hot smoked salmon are both stars and seem to have a permanent home on the menu. Top Pick: Nothing exemplifies Quarter Acre’s sense of whimsy better than the fried quail with peanut creme, crispy wonton and blueberry puree; the description reads up- scale, but the taste is straight fried chicken plus peanut butter and jelly comfort food. Rye 1920 Greenville Ave. Look past the silly names for entrees such as Cure For The Common Cabbage or Every- body Loves Relleno, and you’ll quickly realize that Rye serves seriously good fare that you’re unlikely to find in mainstream Dallas restau- rants. Dinners are built from an array of plates that grow progressively larger on the menu, each selection a smart combination that encourages discussion between flavorful bites. Of course, with a name like Rye, there is plenty of brown liquor available, as well as a serviceable wine list. Small plates might be a foreign concept in Dallas, but we’re grateful to Rye for continuing our education. Top pick: The Icelandic hot dog on the traditional Danish rugbrød (rye bread) is barely two bites, but the Wagyu beef sausage with sweet mustard and remoulade is a mouthful of flavor. You would be forgiven for ordering two, three or even five of them for a meal, if there weren’t so many other options on the menu to explore. Ten Ramen 1888 Sylvan Ave. This small ramen bar in West Dallas, an off- shoot of Teiichi Sakurai’s Tei An, has gath- ered a cult-like following for silky broth and succulent noodles. Ten Ramen’s menu is compact: two ramens, two rice bowls, a broth-less mazemen and a lobster miso, along with a rotating weekly special. Yes, there’s only standing room for a dozen or so patrons inside, where you’ll rub elbows with your fellow ramen fans. But the snug, no- frills interior and intricate flavors in each bowl of ramen are both steeped in Tokyo traditions, just as Sakurai intended. Top Pick: The lobster miso may have its own legion of fans, but keep an eye on the weekly special, where flavor influences stretch from the ramen norms. A bold kim- chi stew and a decadent brisket curry are just two of the brilliantly executed examples we’ve seen move through the specials. Teriyaki 4 U 1111 W. Frankford Road, Carrollton Carrollton may not have Hawaii’s natural beauty, but thanks to Teriyaki 4 U, it has a restaurant that brilliantly re-creates the fla- vors of a Hawaiian lunch plate. Owner Grace Koo uses a wood-fired grill to infuse Teriyaki 4 U’s proteins with a subtle hint of smoke, and she and chef-partner Joshua Bonee have created a menu of Asian fast-ca- sual fare without any apparent weakness. In addition to teriyaki chicken, salmon or tofu, there’s Japanese curry, katsu-style pork or chicken and crab Rangoons that are better than any of the takeout versions of your past. Top Pick: Loco Moco is another Hawaiian standby: a burger patty topped with gravy and a fried egg on a bed of rice. Teriyaki 4 U kicks up the flavor with a blend of pork and beef in the patty, which gets a wood char be- fore being bathed in mushroom brown gravy. Via Triozzi 1806 Greenville Ave. There’s a common refrain that, for all its tal- ent, Dallas doesn’t have many real Italian restaurants. Via Triozzi aims to change our minds by checking a lot of requisite Italian boxes: an exquisite lasagna, daily house- made pasta and several other well-executed Italian basics. Naturally, there’s an impres- sive, red-heavy wine selection and a full bar with an inspired assortment of crafted cock- tails. Via Triozzi’s space is lovely, with every detail considered, and meals there feel like you’ve been invited into the home of your long-lost Italian family. It all adds up to an Italian restaurant Dallas can be proud of. Top Pick: Via Triozzi’s lasagna Bolognese is stellar, but we had a butternut squash ravi- oli on our first visit that was the epitome of fall comfort food in pasta form. If squash is in season and ravioli is on the menu, con- sider it a must-order. Alison McLean Quarter Acre’s whimsical fried quail dish Let’s Eat from p11 FEBRUARY 26 HOUSE OF BLUES ENTER TO WIN TICKETS
