Stephan Pyles Restaurant Review

Last Friday, Shoko and I went to the renowned chef Stephen Pyles new restaurant aptly labeled "Stephen Pyles".

For those who don't know Stephan Pyles' work, in Dallas he was responsible for Routh Street Cafe, Baby Routh, Star Canyon, AquaKnox, Fishbowl, Taqueria Cañonita an Dragonfly among others.

The setting was stunning. Very modernistic, but modernistic in a warm way. We were a litle worried about the noise level as I sank into a Tanq-Ten martini (Shoko tell me my home-shaked ones are better, by the way) in the bar area but found to our surprise that it was much quieter once we were seated at our table. Interestingly, our table was not that far the loud central area - they must have performed some acoustic tricks!

The service: spectacular. For this type of upscale restaurant, you expect great service. This was even greater service. The waiters and staff were extremely attending while not being obtrusive at all. Even master chef Pyles, himself, came to greet us.

Of course what really counts is the food. We decided to go all out and do three courses (not including dessert). We regretted that decision a bit and would go with two courses (and maybe dessert) in the future as our stomachs were filled too much with three.

First course - appetizers - I had the Pulled Spit-Roasted Suckling Pig with Apples, Cardamom, and Mint (A young suckling pig is marinated with orange and lemon zest, cardamom, thyme, chives, ancho chile puree then roasted over hickory on the rotisserie until tender. The meat is pulled and heated in a mixture of apple cider, onions, cardamom and veal stock. Half a green apple is caramelized in brown sugar and butter and stuffed with the pork mixture. Goat's cheese and spiced walnuts top the pork and the plate is drizzled with a sauce made from a reduction of the apple cider, cardamom and veal demi.)and Shoko had Tres Ceviches: Honduran Tuna in Coconut, Ecuadorian Shrimp with Orange and Popcorn, and Salmon Veracruzano. Both of these were delicious. Mine had a combination of tastes that was very unique and different than anything I had ever had. But it was very good. Shoko's were very tasty ceviche's and the seafood was very fresh.

Next - soups and salads. Shoko had the Caramelized Pumpkin Soup with Lobster, Duck Bacon, and Pomegranate Foam (Pumpkin is roasted then cooked in lobster stock, garlic, and aromatic vegetables and pureed. The warm bowl in brought to the table with a mixture of diced lobster meat, Duck Bacon, peppers and herbs. A soup tureen with the pumpkin-lobster liquid is also brought to the table and ladled into the bowl. The soup is garnished with a reduction of pomegranate juice and crème fraiche.) and I had Stephan's Original Southwestern Caesar Salad with Jalapeno Croutons and Parmigiano Reggiano "Chicharron" (Traditional Caesar salad dressing - invented by Caesar Cardini, an Italian in Mexico in the 1920s - of olive oil, lemon, vinegar, mustard, anchovies and eggs is expanded to include tamarind, chile powder and chipotles puree. The salad is served with fried jalapeno polenta croutons and a crisp parmesan cup). I didn't try Shoko's soup as for some reason I'm afraid of pumpkins (with the exception of pumpkin pie). Shoko left the bowl clean so I'm assuming that it was very good. My caesar was so good with a little spice from the chile and chipotle. I realy liked the parmesan cup too!

For the main course I had the Hoja Santa Salmon Packet on Golden Crabmeat Paella (Salmon fillet is brushed with pecan and garlic butter, wrapped in Hoja Santa and steamed and served on top of Paella made form Arborio rice, corn, garlic, onion chorizo, saffron, Madeira and crabmeat) and Shoko had the Chilean Sea Bass with Fava Bean-Arugula Stew and Aji Marisol Rouille (Sea bass is sautéed and served on a broth, or stew of fish fumet, fava beans, tomatoes and arugula. The dish is garnished with roasted garlic croutons and rouille - spicy garlic mayonnaise - made from Peruvian Ahi Marisol Chiles). These were also delicious with the Sea Bass and the Salmon cooked just right.

(note all 'technical' descriptions above are from the Stephan Pyles website!)

This was a great restaurant with great ambience, great service and great food. I highly recommend it. It is located just west of the Dallas Museum of Art on Ross Ave.