Eat Me: The Tripe and Tails at Blind Butcher

by Steven Doyle

It is most assuredly known that Blind Butcher is one of our top favorite pubs in Dallas, with a massive choice of taps, cocktails, decent wines and the best bar food in the city.

Executive chef Oliver Sitrin has created a menu that will change often, depending on what is in season and available, and use as many local ingredients as possible.  Sitrin says, “I have an old-school view on things. The flavors in my dishes are not to be confused, and I don’t believe in waste.  I try to not over think or over do it. I grew up eating these things and playing around with their ingredients – pate, hand-cranked sausages and charcuterie.  It’s fun and creative food that pairs well with our cocktails, beer and wine.”   

Sitrin ‘s menu is a combination of almost every cuisine he has experienced in his lifetime and he calls it “worldly-local”.  He cures all his meats and grinds and hand cranks the sausages in-house.  Sitrin makes mustard, potato chips, some of the cheeses, flavors the goat cheese as well as vinegar and ferments vegetables in-house.

It is always a pleasure to walk past his butcher case, the magic portal into his kitchen. Without a doubt each time he is spotted we ask what is best to order that day. Consider this our greeting. Without fail the chef grins and says “the poutine”. Good answer since he knows we love his duck poutine with the side slab of foie. On our most recent visit Stirin said “Tripe and Tail”. We all grinned an ran back to our bar stool and ordered.

Within minutes a steaming plate of fried tripe and a pair of matching pig tails were presented to or spot at the bar. It almost glowed in the darkness of the bar as if it was saying “eat me”. And we did.

The dish is the perfect bar food. I know we also think this chefs pig ears are the perfect bar snack since it is satisfyingly delicious, both sweet and salty. But the tripe and tails have this slight crispiness coated with an even slighter sauce reminiscent of the best chicken wings you ever gnawed. The dish is definitely meaty, and the tails are even fun to plow through. It is all filling for one, and simply perfect for taken solo.

It was so delicious that nearby people asked about this plate, almost begging for a small bite. Of course we complied, it is just that good that you want to share.