by Andrew Chalk
In June, we reported on Hibiscus’ new menu and concluded ‘the best new restaurant in Dallas may be an old restaurant’, so compelling was the experience. A recent media event caused a revisit that reinforced that point and reminded us that Hibiscus is a moving target, where the culinary team is always seeking out new directions and ingredients.
Our latest tasting started with a charcuterie board. One might start by remarking that there are lots of good charcuterie boards around town, and so there are, but Hibiscus’ should still give pause as something of a reference work on the genre. Not only is Hibiscus execuchef Graham Dodds a pioneer in farm-to-table cooking in Dallas, he is driven to tinker, invent, reinvent and discover.
In the photograph below, moving along the meats from right to left we have rabbit paté, spicy Spanish chorizo, pork rillettes, smoked duck breast and pork jowl. The promise of those ingredients was eclipsed only by the pickled accompaniments in the bottom row. There are house-cured olives, thumbelina carrots, turnips, squash, Texas okra and wild onions. As I picked at each in turn, I realised that they had been pickled separately and each brought its individual acidity, salinity and even patina of ageing to the meal (the latter being the result of reusing pickling solution multiple times, thereby concentrating and refactoring the recipe). Continue reading →
by Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle Trinity River Audubon Center’s signature event, 
by Steven Doyle
