by Bryan Coonrod
Monday night marked another installment of Cane Rosso’s Industry Night at the Deep Ellum restaurant which invites a new guest chef to create a special pizza for the evening. This was one of the most anticipated nights in the series with Dean Fearing offering up his ideas of a great pizza. And how great it was with three pies to choose from.
On the menu Fearing had a buffalo tenderloin, a smoked pork ragu and a barbecue shrimp pizza. Of course I had to try all three. Knowing the vast following Fearing I knew getting there early would be the smart thing to do. Smart move since all of Fearing’s pizzas were sold out by 7:30pm.
I started off with both the buffalo and the pork pizzas. The smoked pork had a very robust flavor with the combination of the sweet sauce, pecorino cheese and the bold smokiness of the pork — a delicious pizza.
Next I sampled the buffalo tenderloin which I just could not wait to taste, and sat in full anticipation mode after seeing this on the menu. Along with buffalo meat was a mixture of chile aioli, pepper jack cheese, Sriracha for a little kick all topped with pico de gallo.
Plenty of very intense flavors were abound with this pizza and this just made my table squeal as I decided to try the third pizza on the fearing list that was made with BBQ shrimp. Though my stomach was beyond full at this point, I was happy to order this pizza as it provided the most flavor of all of Fearing’s pizzas. With Sonny Bryan’s BBQ sauce as the base, the shrimp was joined by a pickled red onion and mango slaw and smoky citrus vinaigrette and topped with tortilla strips.
All of the pizzas kept with Fearing’s theme of Southwest flavor and would be great to see on his regular menu at Fearing’s at the Ritz Carlton.
Of course when you bring in a big name like Fearing you are going to have a great turnout and Monday night did not disappoint as Cane Rosso quickly filled up with many regulars, the curious and other top local chefs like John Tesar of The Commissary and Bruno Davaillon from Fearing’s former home at the The Mansion. We also spotted The Brad enjoying a pie.
Gazing around the room there was quite a lot of happy faces as everyone seemed to be having a moment of ecstasy tasting each slice. Fearing was a great host and made sure to chat up every table, taking pictures with those that wanted one.
We asked chef Fearing how much planning went into making the menu for the night and he said he wanted to make something unique with these pizzas by using some of his signature ingredients. Fearing also tapped into Cane Rosso’s pizzaiolo Dino Santonicola on how the pizzas would work in the 900 degree oven.
If you have yet to make it out to one the guest chef events you have another chance next week as Daniel Vaughn from the blog Full Custom Gospel BBQ will be adding the best BBQ in Texas to his pizzas. Burnt ends pizza has become a must have dish when available at Cane Rosso. The guest chef program will continue after a short break for the holidays, so be sure to check with craveDFW for the new schedule.
