Destination Dining: Salum

Chef Abraham Salum is one of my favorite chefs in the city of Dallas.  After gaining quite a bit of attention while cooking at the long-time Oak Lawn standby Parigi (which, btw, is how they pronounce Paris in Italian) he opened his namesake restaurant Salum eight or so years ago in a nondescript strip mall near a couple of strip clubs.(My favorite newspaper headline of all time is "Headless Body Found In Topless Bar".)  It seemed like an odd, sort of risky place to operate an upscale dining experience intended for mature audiences but it does very well. A couple of years back Chef Abraham opened Komali, his take on modern Mexican cuisine, right next door so the neighborhood must not be that sketchy.  Or maybe all that stripping makes a body hungry.  And they'd always have tip money for the valet.  Hmmm, an unusually thoughtful business plan...

It's Not Really This Dark 

We recently revisited Salum and I must say it was even better than I had remembered.  Super busy but not frantic on a Saturday night, we willingly agreed to sit at the bar until our table was ready.  This doesn't bother me when you have a reservation and you don't have to wait longer than ten minutes. When it edges past fifteen I get all tense and tight-lipped and if it's approaching thirty I'm approaching the manager.  Happily, our wait was no longer than say half a martini until we were shown through the minimalist, soothing room to a great table right in front of the display kitchen.  It was fun watching the cooks in their perfectly synchronized swimming routine minus the water and nose plugs. They leaped and bent and twirled and swirled, keeping the kitchen cleaner than mine will ever be as they worked as a team to get the food out.

Even Garlic Is Bigger In Texas

We were watered and breaded and buttered by an attentive, quiet-as-a-mouse bus person and greeted by our cheerful waitron unit who possessed that "I know your kind" style of mockery that makes you feel special and like an insider.  She steered us to the Texas Goat Cheese and Roasted Elephant Garlic appetizer which came with toasted slices of French bread and tasted like seven seconds in heaven. D had the soup of the day -- I can't remember what it was but the bowl it came in was licked clean.

So far, so good.  Great ambiance, fun server, a packed house full of well-groomed people enjoying their food, not a single blasted TV.  It was just like being in a room full of grown ups and I didn't have to stab anyone for being obnoxious.  But then it happened.  Our entrees came out and the most salacious example of food porn I'd ever laid eyes on was seductively slid onto the table in front of me. In shock I loudly gasped, and my heart started to race as I drank in its luscious, wanton aroma.  This Dijon and truffle-dusted rack of lamb cuddling with mushroom bread pudding while being lovingly kissed by lamb demi-glace was nothing short of sex on a plate.

Mary Had A Little Lamb.  I Ate It.

I admit it, I fell instantly in love. Without thinking, I slowly got on one knee and asked the lamb chops to marry me.  Since I hadn't known to bring a ring I wrapped the circular piece of paper that had been surrounding my rolled napkin and slid it onto the long, thin, expertly Frenched bone of the daintiest chop.  No response.  In a voice husky with desire I proposed again.  Nada.  Zip. Bupkiss. Crestfallen, there was nothing I could do but grab that chop and cram the entire thing into my mouth.  It was medium rare with a rosiness akin to the cheeks of a two year old frolicking outside on a crisp November afternoon. Succulent, tender, juicy and flavorful, the meat was perfectly complemented by the moist, savory bread pudding which I used as a bullet train conduit for the powerfully rich demi.  I tried to slow down and enjoy the experience but I finished the entire plate faster than an overwrought teenager on prom night.

Our server happened by and seemed a little astonished that my plate was entirely empty while D was just starting on an artichoke and ricotta ravioli with grilled shrimp. She didn't buy my story that the back waiter had just put an empty plate down in front of me, no doubt in part because I had sticky streaks of deep red demi sauce smeared around my mouth and down the front of my shirt. Sheesh, some people can be so skeptical.

Despite the unrequited love, that plate's going down as one my of my top five ever.

RGB = Resto Gastro Bistro

Shared Patios at Trinity Groves Overlooking Big D

The Trinity Groves development across the new Calatrava bridge in the former slum off Singleton Boulevard in Dallas is urban redevelopment with the noblest of intentions. Although at heart I am a preservationist, scraping off the detritus of a century of blighted landscape and replacing it with a warehouse enclave re-purposed as a restaurant incubator district is a pretty cool idea.  Phil Romano, the restaurant concept genius behind Macaroni Grill, Fuddruckers, Eatzi's and  numerous other brands where you've spent money for most of your life, is the brains behind this unique endeavor--give up-and-coming restaurateurs a location and seed money to develop their concepts, and then share in their success if they are a hit. Their are nine and counting new restaurants in this newly created dining destination, with another ten or so in the works. It's fun and funky and creative and progressive.  I love it.

Last Saturday we ventured across the bridge and stopped in to say hi to Jonn Baudoin, owner of Driftwood in Bishop Arts, and now Casa Rubia In Trinity Groves.  He's a former colleague who has done well for himself by opening two four-star restaurants in as many years.  I couldn't get reservations at his Spanish tapas temple before 10:00, so we went for a preprandial drink.  The place was swarming with happy hipsters, loving couples and large gatherings of friends and families.  I mentioned to him that we would have eaten there if I could have made an earlier reservation and he gave me his business card and said he'd get me in next time.  I felt like I had just scored a Willy Wonka golden ticket and I have every intention of taking him up on his kind offer.

Yay Organ Meat

Next we ambled down to Resto Gastro Bistro, which, although awkward sounding, turned out to be really delicious.  It was a little less boisterous than Casa Rubia, discounting the two shrilly chattering magpies seated next to us who received a fair amount of stink-eye from us which they either ignored or were oblivious to.  I finally asked them, very politely, to kindly shut up and they shrieked "no" and continued blathering about Kim Kardashian and their best friends' bad habits and how they were both like totally stuffed after sharing one tiny appetizer, which was a lettuce wrap. It was such endless drivel at an astonishing speed and high volume that I eventually had to stab them.  The world is now a much quieter place.  The restaurant manager thanked me and several customers high-fived me and offered me money, which I humbly refused as doing my civic duty is a responsibility I embrace with gusto.

Pretty Bar Balls

We started with an ambitious charcuterie platter that boasted assorted cured meats, cheeses and fruit on a big Steak and Ale type cutting board. (Remember that?)  It looked somewhat daunting at first but we managed to polish it all off except for a tiny dollop of whole grain mustard.  Next came the entrees:  mine was a spectacular stack of seared Ahi Tuna and red and yellow tomatoes with a pineapple hoisin sauce. Yum.  The sushi grade ahi was blood red in the middle and charred black on the outside, precisely how I like it. D's plate was called Twisted Chicken Piccata, which I guess was because they had wrapped it around a skewer to make a poultry curlicue, and it came with grilled corn, bacon, fava beans Clarice, tomato confit scallions and some foreign looking mushrooms. His plate was so clean at the end they didn't even have to wash it before plating it up for the next guest.  But I'm sure they did.

There are so many dining options in Trinity Groves and I can't wait to go back to try the new permanent pop up restaurant Kitchen LTO (Limited Time Offer) which changes chefs, menu, concept and decor every four months. Sort of seems like a high wire act since most restaurants start really finding their groove about three or four months in.  There's is also a fish place called Amberjacks, a Moroccan bistro named SOUK, a modern Chinese cafe, a barbecue joint and a hot dog emporium.  Plus a craft beer place called LUCK and some other places I forgot, and many more to come.  Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Trinity Groves has ascended from a pile of rubbish and syringes and become the newest shiny strand of pearls in the Dallas dining scene's bold new firmament.