by Steven Doyle
Tucked away in a fantastic resurgence of a time forgotten you may witness the beautiful of a repurposing of a building that is a historic landmark. J2 Steakhouse has taken the 124 year old Lewisville Feed Mill and painstakingly resurrected the space into a restaurant that is serving surprisingly beautifully aged steaks at the hands of chef Jonathan Pauley.
You may recall chef Pauley from fine dining locations such as River Crest Country Club, Clark Food and Wine, Lark on the Park and Water Grill. It is from this vast executive experience and desire to create amazing fare in a blazing scratch kitchen that has converged this remarkable space with this talented chef.
This is a steakhouse that could easily compete with your idea of the best steakhouse in Dallas, but with added benefits of a fun and ever-changing menu. Add to this one very serious bar program that includes over 110 bottles of whiskey, many which you are unable to attain at any cost. These are paired with classic cocktails or simple with a single cube of ice to savor that is true and natural about the bottle.
The J2 meatlocker where beef is broken down, aged and cryovaced to await your arrival is chock full of beautiful cuts including tomahawks, ribeyes and in our case a pretty awesome porterhouse that was dry-aged 60 days. Some cuts have a locker aging about them, and Pauley also gives a wet-age treatment to some cuts as well. No one is left out, there are petite steaks as well as the massive and shareable cuts, but you will also find chops, seafood and lovingly handmade pastas.
We also appreciate the additions for the steaks which include seared foie, foie butter, bone marrow, stilton ice cream,a spicy fresno chile ferment, horseradish creme fraiche, crab, lobster and so much more. It is a joy to order a steak at J2.
We recommend few steakhouses on crave because they tend to be similar and the city of rampant with beef. There are a small handful that we like to recommend, and the new J2 Steakhouse is definitely one of these.
Sides are simply amazing and include generous portions to share such as the massive trumpet mushrooms served with a red wine butter and parmesan, a hand-rolled pasta that make up the freshly made cheesy bechamel that is the mac & cheese and a Hatch cream gnocchi.
Delicious starters we tasted include the newly added foie gras three ways (bruleed torchon, whiskey mousse and seated served with brioche toast planks and a gorgeous micro green salad and a balsamic reduction with Mountain Rose apple slivers) and a crispy candied pork belly that belies description, meatballs made from scraps of ribeye, seared wagyu and more.
Deserts are not an afterthought, and we enjoyed a blessed house-made s’mores cheesecake that you need to save room for when you visit. We understand the chocolate pie is a must as well.
Check their website for one of the many upcoming events such as a jazz quintet, constant whiskey and wine dinners, holiday dinners including Thanksgiving buffet, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve. Note that J2 Steakhouse is also open for lunch with some very affordable bites such as soups, salads, sandwiches and one very amazing chicken fried steak.
That would be nice to have petite steaks and large cuts. That is something I would want if I were going to a steakhouse. I will have to find somewhere that has all these. https://zprime.com/