by Steven Doyle
We had mentioned earlier this month that Scott and Gina Gottlich had taken over 18th and Vine, the upscale barbecue themed restaurant located at 4100 Maple Avenue in Dallas, and we stopped in last week for a visit to see how this affected the menu. As expected there were some changes that we enjoyed and it had the Gottlich stamp on platings and some of the new recipes being served.
Gina says, “We are making gentle but important changes. Our regulars will notice positive enhancements but nothing too drastically different than what they loved before about 18th & Vine. Plus, we look forward to introducing new guests to the restaurant as well and improving on the experience others had before. We have a great team in place and the new menus are right in line.”
Lobster Thermidore
One of the fun additions is a family-style dining option to the menu called “The Whole Sha-Bang”, where 3 starters, 3 full servings of BBQ, 3 family size sides and 3 desserts serve 4-6 people for $135. But the large change are chef-inspired menu items such as lobster thermidore, smoked beef tenderloin and truly one of our favorite pasta dishes in Dallas, the BBQ Ham Carbonara with roasted mushrooms, green peas and plenty of parmesan . They use a a bucantini, which seems extremely popular on menus these day. This is the spaghetti-like pasta with the curious hole running through the center which gives the dish a wonderful bite and holds the sauce extremely well. This dish was very Gottlich, as were the platings which seemed all too familiar in his style. This made us smile.
A portion of the menu offers traditional Kansas City barbeque plates while the other is a selection of seasonal, composed chef-created dishes. Chef Gottlich says, “It is a nice balance between the expected and unexpected.”
BBQ Ham Carbonara
Tenderloin
Lobster Thermidore on a BBQ menu is indeed unexpected, but a fantastic surprise. Of course we also had to get a side of ribs after we tasted the new smoked bone-in pork chop. The latter was served with jalapeno cheese grits, Granny Smith apples, and a sorghum glaze. Simply marvelous, as were the smoky pork ribs which were tender and giving.
Scott tells us, “traditional Kansas City BBQ will always be a part of the menu options for those interested in a pure barbeque experience. However, the collaboration between myself and Matt [Dallman] gives us the opportunity to combine talents and knowledge of a chef with a self-taught pitmaster to push the boundaries of what can be accomplished with smoke and other barbeque techniques.”
Look to 18th and Vine for a comfortable setting, seriously good drinks with BBQ highlights and some very nice chef-driven dishes that will please the whole crowd.
