Komali

It had been over a month since PMc and I had gotten together for our regular catch up dinner. This time we decided to check out Komali, Abraham Salum's new place on Cole, next to Salum.

We weren't the only ones to make this choice on Friday. The place was packed. And very presidential. The Bushes (W. and Laura) were in the house as well. I'm beginning to think Laura is stalking me. This is the second time I've seen her this month. A couple of weeks ago she and I were on the same Southwest flight to Hobby (yes, even former first ladies fly the Company Jet). First on Southwest. Now Komali. Coincidence? I think not. If my blog gets shut down shortly, we will know the truth. ;)

Now, I've been a huge fan of Salum for years. I've never had a bad meal there (try the lamb chop, my fave) and it's one of the restaurants I always recommend to folks. Komali is very different from Salum but not in a bad way. First, it's huge. When you walk in there is a long white bar with tables for dining on the other wall. Then there is a whole other dining area down the hall. While Salum is very soft and beautiful with dimmed lighting; Komali is stark white, modern and and very bright. While Salum has more of a continental flair, Komali is modern Mexican. D Magazine had a problem with the noise level at Komali and, yes, the volume is quite high there but it's not as loud as, say, any of the Neighborhood Services concepts in town. It never got so where PMc and I could not hear our conversations or had to raise our voices to be heard.

We began with drinks, which is a strong suit for Komali. The bar is big enough that I think I'll be stopping by for pre-dinner drinks every once in a while. PMc ordered the Komali. One sip and she declared, "tastes like a Jolly Rancher." I ordered the Tamarind Margarita. A milder margarita than most but if you want an extra kick, take a sip with the chili powder rimming part of the glass.

Foodwise, we started with the Queso de Cabra - morita chile goat cheese topped with sweet piloncillo sauce and grilled bread. It was delicious but with a different bread choice, I would have preferred it for dessert instead of a starter. The piloncillo sauce tasted like honey so it was a great complement to the goat cheese.

For entrees, I ordered the Vuelve a la vida. It's a fish, shrimp, oysters, octopus, and scallops cocktail (read, served with chips) with fresh avocado. I ordered at the recommendation of the Chef who said this was one of the dishes that reminded him most of home. Served cold, it was in a tomato sauce and was very fresh and good but, at $18.50, I wasn't completely convinced I got my money's worth. At a lower price point, I would have thought it rocked as a starter, but as an entree, I wasn't completely wowed.

PMc ordered the Albondigas en salsa de pasillo. Mexican meatballs in a pisallo sauce with cilantro rice and handmade tortillas. PMc enjoyed them but she got the same impression that I got from my food. The food is very fresh. The food is very good. But at $18 for meatballs and rice, PMc wasn't as wowed as the price point dictates.

All the desserts looked delicious but we decided to drink our dessert instead. I tried the Maracas which is a pineapple drink (yum) and PMc ordered a glass of wine. The wine list is, as you'd expect, heavily South American and Spanish.

Chef Salum was very present on the dining floor and sat down with us a couple of times to talk. Smiling ear to ear, he was definitely happy with his restaurant but a bit tired. In addition to his responsibilities at Salum, and his back of the house responsibilities at Komali, he's also running the front of the house at Komali for the time being until his new front of the house manager can start. Having the Secret Service show up unannounced at 11:30am for an inspection probably didn't help matters either. I had met Chef Salum at Chefs for Farmers #1 and he was very disappointed that he wasn't going to be participating in #3 next month ("no time, I'm afraid, right now"). Chef is just one of the "nice guys" and I really hope Komali has all the success Salum has had over the years.

Service was unobtrusive but you could tell he was a bit harried. Think W's visit had thrown everyone for a bit of a loop.

So my first take on Komali? Well, I'm definitely going to try it out again. I want to try out a few more of their entrees (and I've heard raves about the soup) before I give it a final review. I think it's the type of place that once you find your favorite dishes there, you will want to come back again and again. So, we'll see.

http://www.komalirestaurant.com/

Cheers!

Lockhart Smokehouse

(Or as it will forever be known as Eating Meat with an Old Friend, a New Friend, and the Night I Gave Peas a Chance)

I have had several friends ask for a barbecue review so I decided that I might as well check out the new Lockhart Smokehouse in Bishop Arts. Now, doing a barbecue review posed a challenge to me because, well, many of my girlfriends that I usually drag on these things with me don't eat red meat or don't enjoy consuming large quantities of it in one sitting. Hmmmm, was I going to have to eat alone? Then I realized this: Boys like meat. Boys like barbecue. I like boys. So maybe I could get some boys together for dinner me? Great idea right? So I asked around and I was able to get . . . two. Which is, admittedly, 2 more than I'm usually able to find to spend time with me on any given night so I was happy.

Now don't get me wrong, I was able to get to get two stellar guys to come with me to Lockhart. First there was M. I've known M forever. He was one of the first people I met when I moved to Dallas 9 1/2 years ago. We see each other 3 to 4 times a month and he's the guy I call if I need the name of an electrician or plumber. Because we've known each other so long, we have that casual comfortableness old friends have with each other. That came in handy at dinner because Lockhart has no forks!!!! You have to eat your meat with your hands. But, no worries, eating your dinner "Flintstone style" is no big deal when you've known your tablemate for years.

I didn't have that same relationship with my second dinnermate, J. Before Lockhart, I had met J a total of twice in my entire life. Once for about 4 minutes while Boulevarding last fall and again in December at a holiday party. J and I spent most of that party talking about food and since then he's become one of my loyal followers. I had remembered he had said something about loving to grill and going to barbecue joints so I asked if he wanted to join me at Lockhart, and he said yes. But how was I going to eat with my hands in front of a guy I barely knew? Quite easily it turns out. When the meat is this good, table manners be damned.

Now Lockhart consists basically of three areas. There's the dining area (which was pretty empty) with its concrete floors, metal signs on the wall, and rolls of paper towels on the tables. Seemed a lot cleaner than most BBQ joints I've been to but, heck, they've only been open a couple of weeks. We were quite happy that the sound system was not forcing (as J put it) "that Dixie Chick country music crap" down our throats. Instead it was playing a nice mix of a bunch of different genres (I swear I heard Yellow Submarine). There's the bar, which was quite busy and well stocked with Lone Star beer. And then, in the back, is where you order.

We met Sean, our smiling pitmaster, and we ordered. Now, be careful ordering at Lockhart. They sell their meat by the pound, so you could walk out of there considerably lighter in your wallet than you had planned. I asked Sean to serve me 2 of his favorites, and he served me up some shoulder clod and 3 pork ribs on butcher paper (Plates? Who needs them? You're eating with your hands afterall). That, plus a small container of potato salad, ran me just over $21. Granted, it was way too much food for me and I overordered on purpose, but I can see where it would be quite easy to overspend if you're not paying attention.

I got to our table excited but apprehensive to try the meats contained in my now grease stained butcher paper. See, I grew up in the Midwest so barbecue to me is pork covered in tangy sauce that dribbles off your chin. There's no sauce at Lockhart either. Was I going to enjoy barbecue that I eat with my hands, off grease-stained butcher paper, with no sauce to be had? Absolutely!

I started with the pork ribs (figured I'd stick with what I know). So good. The meat was tender and well seasoned. The post oak smokiness came through but didn't overpower the meat. No sauce was necessary.

I next tried the shoulder clod. Now shoulder clod is supposed to be a leaner cut than brisket because the shoulder is a well used muscle and, therefore, has less fat (thank you pitmaster Sean for that explanation). I say supposed to be because my shoulder clod was actually quite fatty. Delicious and tender but fatty nonetheless.

I gave J a rib (M had his own but got some of my shoulder clod), and J returned the favor by throwing some sausage on my butcher paper (that's what she said). Loved, loved, loved the sausage, which is from Kreuz Market. It was compact and not too fatty with a great smokey flavor. It actually reminded me a lot of the smoked polska kielbasa Mom buys from the Euromart for Christmas Eve and Easter every year. Yum.

The potato salad was German and good, but forgettable (they do give you spoons for that). The Lone Star was cheap ($3, I think). J declared it the best BBQ he's had in Dallas. I'm not sure M was so convinced. He found the brisket to be a little too marbled for his liking. I'll have to agree with J here. I'm going to go back to Lockhart and soon. Oh, another word of warning, Lockhart closes when they're done so if you don't get there early, you might miss out. I had been given marching orders by my boss to bring back "samples" for him. I went back to the counter just before 9 to get his order and they had already closed up the meat shop. I thought I had plenty of time and we stayed for a whole other hour. Alas, I may be fired.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the peas comment above, keep wondering. I know someone laughed out loud when they read it, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/index.html

Cheers!

Cedars Social

So I had the opportunity to attend one of the Cedars Social Supper Bowl dinners last night as a guest of a guest of Chef John Tesar. Cedars Social is a new cocktail lounge/restaurant that is located in the old Amuse space right near South Side on Lamar and Gilley's. Attending this dinner required me to travel from my house in Lakewood to the other side of Downtown after the Ice Storm of 2011. Roads were pretty clear and there was no traffic. Actually, the most treacherous part of my drive was turning into Cedars Social's parking lot, which was a sheet of ice.

The first thing I noticed as I walked into Cedars Social was how warm and toasty it was. They have a circular fireplace in the middle of the dining room which was making the place roasty toasty which was great since I needed to thaw out. I have no idea what they are going to do with that fireplace in the middle of August. Bubbles? Koi? Dry Ice? Who knows.

Other than the fireplace, the bar is the feature of the restaurant. It is a large bar covered with all types of cool mixers and such. Drinks are going to reign supreme at Cedars Social when it opens up next week. Michael Martensen is in charge of the bar menu so you know you'll be in for some fantastic old time cocktails, made right. We got to taste several concoctions. Some were better than others (try the Colonial Tea Time) but they were all made with fresh and homemade ingredients (these guys make their own grenadine, for goodness sakes). When it officially opens next week, expect to see punches which will be brought out in punch bowls to the tables.

My only disappointment with the bar was actually just an item for the pre-official opening punch list. I sat in a chair on the other side of the well and after a few minutes found my jeans were covered in cold water. They've got a leak! But I just moved over one seat, and all was well again. Also guys, you need to fix the locks in the ladies room and install some toilet paper holders too. But that's what pre-opening events are about, right?

Passed hors d'oerves included everything from lamb lollipops with goat cheese (which are delicious and will be on the regular menu) to pigs ears with guacamole (which won't be on the menu - shocker! - but were pretty tasty as long as you didn't think about what you were eating) to a crab gratin which was to die for (and would make an excellent crab dip for the menu, hint, hint).

We sat down for dinner and ended up picking our table wisely because we ended up sitting next to a table full of former Green Bay Packers and their wives. Cedars Social is owned by Brian Williams, a former player, and he invited some of his friends to the party. (They'll be doing a pep rally for the Pack on Saturday there as well. Should be quite a party). We also got to spend a lot of time talking to Brian about opening this place up and his vision for the future. Tesar's menu last night included crab legs in garlic foam from the Mansion days - Brian's special request, a roasted prawn as big as my arm - Santana Dotson was disappointed it wasn't as big as his ginormous arm, pasta bolognese- which was great will be on the regular menu, and sweetbreads in a truffle vinaigrette (which I've had before at another event). But it wasn't a sneak preview of what Cedars Social will serve. It will be all about small plates and comfort foods. And pies - sweet potato, buttermilk, pecan - yum.

In talking to Brian though, it seems as if he envisions this place as a great bar where you happen to get great food. I hope it works for him. He seems like a nice guy. South Side on Lamar hasn't been the attraction everyone thought it was going to be when it first opened. This was my first venture back in years. But it looks like they have a good product at Cedars Social and hopefully that will bring in some of the crowds this area needs. I plan on coming back once they have time to open up and work out the bugs which always occur in the first few weeks.

Cheers!