I suppose a good place to start is with last night. L and I had the great fortune to dine at Fearing's on Saturday night. You may not know, but Dean Fearing, formerly with The Mansion, opened his new place in August, 2007 within the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Uptown. We dine out quite a bit and I have had Fearing's and the Ritz on my culinary radar screen for a few months now.
I have to say that the Rattlesnake Bar was a great place to start a night. Drinks (Crown and Coke) were the usual $10.00 cocktail one expects at an upscale Dallas restaurant, and beefy as they should be for that price. The bar area is a very attractive space with comfortable chairs and tables. It is an easy place to relax and enjoy a nice cocktail.
Our table was situated close to the open air cooking area. I sat facing the front of the establishment while L had a nice view of the actual cooking areas. I was quite taken with the room and furnishings. The table had benches that could move and extremely comfortable cushions and the table itself was spacious and roomy. The decor in the room itself was subtle and understated. It is hard to describe, but one wall appeared as if it was a mosaic of art one might expect from Michelangelo or DaVinci. Check it out, you'll see.
Our waiter was Michael, a nice lad with quite a bit of enthusiasm for the menu and Fearing's. We ordered another cocktail and for starters, L ordered the sampler of Griddled Lump Crabcakes, Barbecued Duck Tamale and Roasted Chili-Wild Empanada with Fiesta Salad and I had to go with the Barbecued Blue Point Oysters with Creamed Spinach, Artichokes, Apple Smoked Bacon and Gulf Crab. Michael seemed pleased, so we felt like we were off to a good start. (I usually do pay attention to staff reactions and thoughts in a restaurant such as Fearing's.)
So I love oysters, and will eat them pretty much any way they come prepared, I truly do not discriminate. The presentation was three half shells filled with the spinach,bacon, crab and artichoke mix topped with one or two lightly fried oysters and a small amount of barbecue sauce was placed in front of each half shell. To say they were good is not at all accurate. They were delicious. I felt like I had a nice combination of Oysters Rockefeller and fried oysters. A very nice way to start my meal.
L really went for the crab cakes. They were two small crab cakes that were truly delicious and made me think of the Chesapeake Bay style crab cakes I know from my youth. The duck tamale and mushroom empanada were good, but the crab cakes were the belle of the ball. Hard to even really remember the other items the crab cakes were so good. L has always been a crab cake connoisseur and she gave them an enthusiastic grunt and chortle while she dined.
I need to take a moment to say that their bread basket was worthy of mention, at least the corm muffins. They were small, smaller than a gold ball, but warm to the touch and filled with thin slices of taste heaven. Whether it was the spices, peppers or general rich corn bread taste, they were delicious and I used no butter!
For our main course we both chose the Pan Roasted 'BBQ spiced' Filet and Chicken Fried Maine Lobster on Queso Fresco Corn Potatoes and Cynthia's Spinach Enchilada. I think I can safely say that we both thought this was an interesting combination and delicious! The filets were small, so tender as to not need a knife hardly ( I could kind of saw the meat with my fork, but used a knife of course), nicely blackened. The Lobster was just plain special. The batter used was almost like a beer batter/tempura batter mix or what those two want to be when they grow up. Cynthia should get a medal for her Spinach Enchiladas, they were that good. I think if I say too much more, it might smack of hyperbole, but this was a truly world class meal folks.
Ok, so now to dessert: I had the Cookie Plate, which consisted of a mix of small cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chocolate chip, oatmeal. But truly spectacular was L's choice of Butterscotch Custard with Apple Fritters and Caramel Ice Cream. The fritters were massive, with a crunchy covering and warm apple goodness inside. The custard was just so good it made me less than interested in my cookies. Luckily, L is a size 2, so she simply cannot finish large desserts! The coffee was rich and strong and made in a French press at our table. The taste contrasts between the coffee, the various dessert flavors was almost too much to process. Simply divine. No kidding.
I need to know say that I interacted with Dean Fearing no less than four different times in the course of our 2.5 hours within the restaurant. The first three were table side visits and the fourth was a brief exchange as Dean circulated from one part of the dining area to another. I usually DO NOT go for 'celebrity chefs" (and told Dean so), but this guy is the real deal. A truly nice guy and very enthusiastic about our visit and experience. You can tell Dean really gets the art of fine dining.
A few other items:
The bathrooms were exactly as I expected: spotless and lush. I very much judge restaurants by not just their food and presentation, but by their bathrooms. Why? Because if you don't care about the restrooms, you most likely don't care about some other aspect of the dining experience.
The crowd itself at Fearing's was of course good looking, with a nice mix of age, gender, race, couples and groups. A nice crowd, a polite crowd, a well mannered and dressed crowd.
Total cost with tip: $275.00 and worth every penny. I have a new favorite restaurant, and its name is Fearing's.
