Best Tasting Menus In DFW
Dallas/Fort Worth is one of the best restaurant cities in the country. This is especially true if you want a complete food-centric dining experience, because we have one of the highest populations of chef-owned restaurants. With all that competition, chefs like to show off their talent with tasting menus. These set chef menus give restaurant patrons a chance to try cuisine they might not have picked otherwise, and give the chef a chance to show off their unique and best dishes.
See our previous Best Tasting Menus In DFW article here.
The Bastion Restaurant
2100 Hemphill St.
Fort Worth, TX 76110
(817) 913-6972
www.bastionrestaurant.com
The Bastion Restaurant is currently only open for private events and scheduled chef dinners. The chef dinners are held about once a month, and do require reservations, so just check its website for dates and details. It is worth the extra planning for these themed prix-fixe menus. You can expect to dine on dishes like filet mignon and truffle-infused mashed potatoes, which have both shown up during past dinners. The usual price is $50 per person
The French Room
The Adolphus Hotel
1321 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 742-8200
www.hoteladolphus.com
The Chef's Tasting Menu at The French Room consists of five courses and costs $110 per guest. With wine pairings, the set menu is $165. Many of the dishes at The French Room are seasonal so menu items do change frequently. Right now the chef's menu includes a first course of Maryland softshell crab with braised leek, avocado cream and spicy corn sauce. It is paired with Navarro Vineyards "Edelzweicker" and there are still four courses to go. Jackets are a required dress code and reservations are almost always necessary.
Related: Best Tapas In Dallas
Mansion Restaurant
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
2821 Turtle Creek Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 559-2100
www.rosewoodhotels.com
The Mansion Restaurant is one of the most revered in the area. One of the best ways to truly enjoy everything it has to offer is through the Chef's Seasonal Tasting Menu. There are actually two versions. A four-course menu is priced at $79, with wine pairings for $50 more. The seven-course menu is $115, with wine pairings for $89 more. One course includes seared scallops, braised endive and syrah lobster reduction, which gives you an idea of the rich cuisine the dinner delivers. A vegetarian tasting menu is available as well.
Local
2936 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 752-7500
www.localdallas.com
The location of Local is a little out of the traditional downtown/uptown location. Although only a little bit by distance, the atmosphere of the Deep Ellum location is very different and more eclectic than most of the city. The cuisine inside the intimate restaurant though, is what you would expect from a high-class restaurant in Dallas. The seven-course tasting menu is $70, or $100 with complementing wine. It starts with the soup of the evening, then moves to a fried yellow tomato salad complete with a comeback spinach toss, cornbread croutons and crisp pancetta. It is followed by five more courses.
Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana
3405 W. 7th St.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 850-9996
www.lannyskitchen.com
Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana offers a tasting menu that includes five courses for $60. There is a supplemental foie gras course option for $15 more. This includes seared foie gras, pineapple brulee and coconut brioche French toast. The founder, Lanny, is the great-grandson of Fort Worth's famous Joe T. Garcia. He combines his upbringing in that restaurant with his studies around the United States and Mexico. This created his own vision of the Mexican-inspired, but vastly different cuisine at Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana.
Related: Best Cheese Shops In DFW
Emilie DesJardins currently works in Dallas television and worked with KRLD Restaurant Week for several years before that. She is always trying new places around the Metroplex to find the best food and unique things to do. See her work at Examiner.com.